Song of the Fallen
by Ophiali
Summary: Words are important to humans. They use them in various forms; out loud, on paper, through music. But how much power do words hold? ...Lying beneath the surface could be the power to transcend barriers and reach the heavens. Post2007Movie
1. A Tranquility Greeting

Song of the Fallen  
Chapter 1: A Tranquility Greeting

"_Blah blah"_ – Transformer talking in car mode  
_Blah blah_ – thinking  
'Blah blah' – Cybertronian and private links.

Transformers ain't mine.  
Dea Barr is.

Light Note: First Transformers fic. Movie based because all I remember from Generation 1 is that Jazz was a Texan, Beast Wars always brings up Turantulas molesting Cheetor, and so I'm left with the most innocent of the group; The movie.

Oh yes! And Jazz is dead because, and I'm sorry fan girls, he did in fact DIE at the end of the movie… Don't worry though. Things will get better.

Enjoy.

* * *

It was a cryptic melody. Singing of hope; a future they could only dream of. Singing of love; protecting those closest. Singing of praise; remembrance of the ones they lost. Singing of a promise; I will protect you.

It was a cheerless melody. The gentle rise and fall of the voice, filled with such sorrow, the people filling the room shedding tears, though they knew not the meaning. Eyes closed, hearts thrumming to the voice, latching onto the evident emotion.

It was her final melody. By the time the sun shined the next day, the girl would be gone. The pain she felt would be left here, left forever in these peoples memories so that no one would forget – she would be gone, but would live on.

It was the Song of the Fallen; for those who would never rise again.

* * *

"Introduce yourself to the class." The teacher said, dejected and obviously tired of trying to settle down the talking mass of teenagers. She nodded and blinked, figuring it'd be easiest to say it when no one was paying attention.

"Um…" She had a longer version of a pixie cut, the red hair angle forward and her bangs parted from the right. Her pale green eyes watched her fingers as they pulled and tugged on the sleeve of her over sized hoodie.

Sadly for her, as soon as that one word was utter by a non-authority figure, the voices dropped off one by one until the room was silent. She coughed nervously, and shifted her weight.

"My name is Dea Barr, with two R's not to be confused with a place that sells alcoholic beverages," a few people chuckled, and her mouth twitched in a slight smile, "Lesse, I moved here from Mission City," her eyes went to the floor, watching her bouncing leg flip her untied shoelaces around her feet, "And last year I got to see giant alien robots duke it out in the streets."

A few people laughed, some just smile, more of them rolled their eyes, but two of them sat up straight as pins, glancing at each other as Dea was dismissed to a seat in the back.

She fiddled with the sleeve of her jacket the whole class, answering blankly when the teacher called on her to start participating. Her mind was racing on the idea of this new place, all the new faces. What was she doing here? She was an outsider in Mission City, she'd be an outsider here too. It was only a matter of time before they started making the connections, tracking her down and getting rid of her as they'd done to everyone else there.

But she wasn't planning on having that happen. She couldn't have that happen. Glancing around the room, she noticed a yellow Camaro parked near the view of the window, and she felt a pain in her stomach. There was no way she could forget.

"Miss Barr."

"Miss is for teachers and door-to-door salesmen," she said blankly without registering the who or the what.

A cough brought her from the day dream and she grinned sheepishly, "It's a good thing I'm one of the former." She glanced around the now empty room and laughed, albeit timidly, grabbing her bag and bolting from the room as fast as she could run. Dea looked around her at the people in the hallway, then pulled out her cell phone to check the time. She hadn't come until the last period, so school was over, and the buses had most likely already left.

Great.

She was basically stranded in a brand new city with no one she knew to tell her where to go. Her dad would still be at work for a good few more hours, so she'd have to book it.

"Perfect…"

"Giant robots, huh?"

"Yup. Giant robots that squished my mom."

The voice she heard paused, and again, Dea realized she had said something without thinking, "Uh…" She looked up from her phone at a brunette girl with blue eyes that was in her class. On her right was the boy she had been sitting next to, short, slightly curly brown hair and brown eyes, "Hi."

"Hey!" The guy chirped, grinning at her as he fell into step by her side, "I'm Sam, that's Mikaela." Dea nodded her acknowledgement.

Mikaela linked her arm through hers, slowing her down from the door leading outside, "We just wanted to hear about those giant robots you were talking about."

"You serious?"

The brunette blinked, "Well yeah! What kid wouldn't want to hear about robots stomping around Mission City?" Dea narrowed her eyes, but as she kicked open the door, the sun shining bright causing her to blink, the strange feeling that had been in her stomach was gone, and she began adamantly telling them the story of her fateful encounter.

"Well there was this black truck, a GMC Topkick, pretty sweet, and an emergency vehicle – bright freaking yellow. A tank, fighter jet, mine digger I think, and a funny looking jet, evil police car, a freaking killer awesome blue truck with red flames, and a yellow Camaro, the brand new model I think..." Mikaela ran through the list of names in her head, Sam already had been mouthing the names behind Dea's back, "And a Solstice." Sam careened to a halt, Mikaela paused in her list, and they listened silently, "A beautiful silver Pontiac Solstice GXP. The paint had a few scratches, but nothing that couldn't have been buffed out, and the engine was so loud and powerful it made my heart skip a beat..."

Sam blinked as the two girls drifted off to car talk land, where he wasn't allowed entrance. He huffed and slowed behind the females as a Camaro rolled around the corner and parked itself, "Mikaela, I got to get you home so I can go to work." The brunette blinked, the grinned madly, "What…?"

"What do you say I take Bee after you go to work and show Dea around? You know he gets so bored when you're at work…" She tilted her head down slightly and stuck her lower lip out, the sun making the lip gloss she was wearing stand out. Sam licked his own lips and looked over at Dea, who was mimicking Mikaela's action, then over at Bee, the engine rumbling discreetly in agreement.

"Not today, but this weekend." Mikaela jumped, taking Dea with her – their arms had still been linked, "Yeah, yeah, your welcome, now get in! Dea you too." The red head blinked and pointed at herself, "Yeah, I'll take you home so we'll know where to pick you up from now on. Sound good?"

"Uh, sure!" The females crawled into the back, earning a disapproving stare from Sam to Mikaela, which she curtly ignored, "So I live kinda sorta far… You won't be too late for your work right?" Sam shook his head and switched his gaze to hers.

"Get this puppy off the main road, away from cops, and in Mikaela's hands and you got yourself a joy ride to remember!" The three laughed, and settled into the seats. The radio came on – a head banger song that was catchy but hard to understand – and they buckled up.

The tires squealed as they turned out of the parking lot, the Camaro picking up speed as the engine roared to life. Dea couldn't contain her glee and whooped, a grinning Mikaela copying her. Sam laughed and the car began to slow down, they were hitting the pedestrian area. Dea explained how to get to her house, then leaned back into the seat as Sam started the car forward.

She spoke quietly, woman-to-woman kind of voice, "You people get friends quick don't you?"

The brunette just smiled, "What can I say? We knew you'd make a good friend right off the bat."

Dea smiled back, "Good to know."

As it turned out, Dea lived a few streets over from Sam's house, and after a few rounds of laughter, a goodbye, more laughter, a few 'oh my god's, and another goodbye, Mikaela and Sam had driven off, leaving Dea at her house to her own devices.

"Sam, she was in Mission City."

"I know. Bee," The engine revved, and a voice spoke '_Yes Sam?_' "What do you think we should do?"

"_Telling Optimus about it would be a good idea, but after we do a little of what I do best."_

Mikaela looked at the dashboard, "Are you suggesting we spy on her?"

"_No. But getting information on what she saw and how much she knows is of up most importance."_

Sam nodded at his girlfriend, "This weekend, when you, her and Bee go out. Try getting her to talk more about it."

"Okay."

The boy paused, turning to look back at her, "You okay?" She nodded, her eyes fixed out the window – they had arrived at her house, "Then I'll see you at school tomorrow." She nodded again, smiling as he kissed her cheek goodbye. Opening the door for her, Bee said his own goodbye as Mikaela disappeared into the house.

"You_okay?"_

Sam sighed, "Yeah. But this is going to get interesting, isn't it?"

"_Of course,"_ the Camaro replied with a happy rev.

* * *

"I'm leaving…" Dea called to the empty house, hooking her bag over her shoulder and jogging down the driveway to the girl filled waiting yellow Camaro. Sliding into the passenger seat, she smiled politely at Mikaela's two best friends that were coming to the mall with them, and placed her bag on the floor.

"What store to hit first?" The platinum blonde sighed, racking her brain, "Hollister?" The other shook her head, "Oh yeah, you went there yesterday huh. Oh! What if we go to A and F?"

Dea felt her eye twitch, and she threw in her two cents, "How about we drop you two off at the mall to contemplate while Mikaela gives me a tour of the city?"

The one with black hair squealed and clapped her hands, "Perfect! I always feel bad when non-mall people are with me." Her eye twitched again and Dea gave her new friend a estranged look, the girl simply shrugging and turning the blinker on.

"What can I say?" She whispered to Dea, "I hang out with a strange crowd."

"Obviously…"

The two girls exchanged looks, both grinning from ear to ear. The radio jumped to life – a rock song that just begged to be head banged to – and they started out, the engine purring as they headed for the main road.

"So, Dea was it?" She turned to face the dark haired girl, "Why'd you move to Tranquility? Mission City is the boss!" She shrugged and faced forward in her seat.

"Parent's orders."

"Total lame-ness," the blonde chipped in, and Dea snorted, "Well it is!"

The song ended, and another song took it's place; Dea recognized it instantly and hummed along, "Yeah well, I can't really go against the old man. Teenage government leash and all…"

"Way."

They pulled into the parking lot of the mall, and Dea got out of the car long enough to let the other girls out from the back. She sat back down, pulling the door shut with a tug, "Where to magoo?"

"The lake first. It's a sorta long drive, so got anything you want to chat about?" Mikaela turned the left blinker on, cursing under her breath as a guy in a Bug flew past, breaking the imaginary rules of driving etiquette.

Dea clicked her seatbelt into place and shrugged, "Depends on if you don't mind me sounding like a complete crazy person."

"I'm dating Sam."

"Point taken."

The two fell into silence, and in that time, void of any sound, Dea contemplated the odds of her losing Mikaela as a friend if she told her the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth – dating Sam or not. They'd only been friends a few days now, bonding like that old saying, 'Birds of a feather flock together' except it was gender and not social class. She scratched her arm, something she'd done since she was little that had been the family trait on her mother's side.

"It's like foreshadowing," was her grandma's explanation, "Somehow, somewhere, you're brain knows that something is a miss, you just suck at charades."

"So you know those robots I told you of?" Dea finally said as the Camaro rounded a bend. Mikaela's eyes flicked over at her, so she continued, "I'm not kidding about it. One of them – the funny looking jet – killed my mom." She made a smooshing motion with her hands, "Stepped on her. Used a truck bed to scrape her off… I—" She itched her arm again, "It landed just freaking millimeters away from me…"

"Dea, god! I'm so sorry!" Mikaela freaked, looking at her with her face etched with worry, "That's horrible!"

Dea waved off the concern, "It's not like you could have done anything to save her, no one could; gravity was against her." The brunette fixed her eyes on the road again, but her grip on the wheel tightened.

"So that's why you moved, right? Living in the city, so close to where your mom died… It must have been hard on you and your dad." The car pulled to a stop; they had arrived at the lake and had parked in a shady area under a maple tree that was starting to turn gold.

She shrugged the seatbelt off, and pulled her legs under her Indian style, "It was at first… I'm pretty much over it, but my dad… I can't even tell my dad why she really died because he wouldn't believe me if I did…" The other girl gave her a confused look, "He'd been out of town. Heard about the 'earthquake' and came running home." She put air quotes around earthquake.

"And the Solstice? You gave a lot of detail about it, I'm assuming he was an important piece to your day." Mikaela had placed her feet up on the dashboard and was picking at a loose string on her shoe, "Tell me what happened after Me—the jet guy stepped on your mom."

Dea ran a hand through her hair, "I was totally flipping out; frantic screaming, randomly running around without knowing where I was going. I was scared half to death for my life, but numb about the whole thing at the same time… I remember that I started to run across the street for some reason, and the tank guy fired some missiles or something at me." She took a breath, leaning back into the seat.

"Total deer in the headlights moment; I just stopped and stared, thinking 'This can't be happening to me.' But right before they hit me, a blur of silver flew past – the Solstice. It was just radiating heat, and I broke after that. I just shut my eyes really tight and covered my ears. If I can't see it, it can't see me." Dea laughed, "When I opened my eyes again, there was a robot in place of the car, and it was picking up some of the littler cars and throwing them at it!"

Mikaela chuckled, Optimus's voice rang in her head, _That is something he would do…_ "Damn. That must've been intense." Dea nodded vigorously.

"It was! After that though, a bright yellow one came and lasered the tank guy's arm off. Least, I think he lasered it. Could have been a sword, or he tore it off, but his arm came off I know that much."

She looked over at Dea, "Let's go down by the lake. It looks awesome." She knew that Bee would listen in anyway, but she felt confined in the cab of the Camaro, and could see that Dea wanted out into the late fall sunshine as well.

"Yeah! I want to give my feet a good soak!"

They trotted down to a more secluded spot, Dea kicking her shoes off on their way there, and sat down by the water. She skimmed the ball of her foot along the surface of the water and watched the ripples dissipate before lowering them in, "I hate what happened after that…" The brunette leaned back onto the grass, her hands laced behind her head, "The funny looking jet tore the Solstice in half."

Mikaela nodded, "Harsh. Killed your mom, and your only reason for being alive," she paused, "Wait, that came out wrong." Dea covered her mouth as she giggled, rolling on the grass and splashing water as she kicked her feet in merriment, "Oh shut up! You know what I meant."

"Do I?"

"Dea!" Mikaela scowled, leaning forward and cupping her hands into the lake, splashing Dea's exposed legs, "HA!"

She shrieked, pulling her legs away from the water, "Oh my god, COLD!" Dea put her warrior face on, and dove for the water, getting as much as she could in her hands and flinging it at Mikaela's head, smirking when it hit the side of her face, causing the brunette to cry out in surprise.

"Oh, you're dead."

"Bring it chicky."

* * *

If Sam hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he never would have believed it. Not in the least bit. There was no way that something of that awesome caliber could happen without his knowledge while he was off killing his mind slowly in the torture that is work. God wouldn't allow it… Right?

Apparently he did.

The two water soaked girls grinned at him, their somewhat dry sweaters being used as towels. Muddy hand prints were evident on both girls faces, and was that a tear in Mikaela's shirt? It WAS! They must have gotten rough…

"God hates me."

"We'll give Bee a wash I swear!"

Of course, the car hadn't been left out of the equation, and had some of the mud from Dea smeared all over the hood along with sliding hand prints on the side windows, like whoever was trying to get inside had been tackled to the ground before they could succeed.

"He really hates me…"

Dea pulled herself into the back, where one of her shoes, Mikaela's shoes and three pairs water logged socks sat. They had no idea where the third pair was from, but they were in Mikaela's shoes, and she wasn't going to touch them. "Where to know fearless leader?" Sam parked himself in the passenger seat, sliding the seatbelt into place.

"Um, we haven't been to the lookout yet." Mikaela inputted, turning the key to the Camaro – the engine giving off a particularly loud rev. The brunette looked at Sam, confused, "Yes?" The engine revved again, "Then off we go…"

The drive was silent except for the low hum of the radio as it played the local rock station, power ballads and head bangers the whole ride. Dea had taken to itching her arm and fiddling with the hem of her hoodie located under her butt. Paranoia began to take over as they pulled off the road onto a dirt path that lead to a small grassy ledge. She started crawling out after Sam, and yelped in surprise when the car jerked and threw her onto the ground.

Sam instinctively pulled her further away, giving the car space to do what it was planning – though why, the boy didn't know. He looked from Bee to Mikaela, who was just has confused, "Bee are you sure?"

The car answered, "_Yes. She is worthy, I deem her so, and Optimus will have to… Deal with it._" Dea stared as parts began to shift out of place, the vehicle rising to stand at a height that made her shiver in fear. "Human Dea, do not be afraid." She continued to stare with saucer plate eyes.

"You-you-you," she looked up and slammed her fist onto his arm, "Your Camaro is THE Camaro I was talking about and you didn't have the decency to freaking TELL ME!" Sam began to sputter something, but Dea wouldn't hear of it. Instead she began babbling, "Oh dear lord, he heard me when I was talking about the Solstice!"

"Jazz." Bee inputted, shifting his weight as he watched the girl with curiosity.

Her hands flew to her head, ruffling her short hair, "Right, Jazz…" She groaned loudly, "This is the single most embarrassing moment in my life…" She looked at Mikaela, "Except of course maybe the time when I flung spaghetti at my friend and it hit our principal, who then started a food fight."

"People in Mission City are awesome," sighed Sam randomly.

"Anyway," she started again with her rant, "I was talking about Jazz with the best of my vocabulary like he was some cute guy in school! Like I had a crush on him!" She frowned, "Not saying he probably isn't worthy of having a crush on, I mean he's a Solstice _obviously_ he's worthy of having a crush on, but the fact remains."

"And that is?" Bee asked delicately.

Dea's frown deepened, "I need to kick you." Bumblebee raised a brow, not questioning the girl, and transformed back into the Camaro, where Dea proceeded to kick Bee's closest tire with all her strength.

The car rumbled as the engine purred to life, "Better?" She nodded, "Good, because we're not done with the surprises just yet." Same blinked, shaking his head while telling the car that that wasn't going to happen – he still had a curfew to attend to.

Mikaela agreed quickly, "Bee, I think you've been enough of a scare for her today. Do it another day." Bumblebee denied, "Really, it's a better idea."

"No." The two teens spun around to face Dea, who was staring hard at the now obvious Autobot symbol, "I want to get all these surprises done and over with. It's like taking out teeth," she explained simply, her words suddenly clipped, "the faster you do it, the less painful it ends up being after the pain killers have worn off."

The brunettes exchanged looks, raging a war of thoughts with each other. Finally, they sighed, looking between Bee, who was getting impatient, and Dea, who was basically hypnotized by the insignia, "Fine, if you really want to."

"I do."

They all scrambled back into the car, Sam in the driver's seat, Mikaela in the passenger seat, and Dea sprawled out again in the back. Bee peeled out, dust flying in their wake, and Dea groaned inwardly. Why couldn't her life had remained blissfully ignorant? He picked up speed, the engine roaring, the cab vibrating with every pulse, every rev. The 'Bot flicked the radio on, turning the music up and drowning out everything outside the car.

Stupid itch.

* * *

"That?"

The Camaro had turned of the main road a while ago – after dropping Sam and Mikaela off – and they'd followed an old trail until they reached the dingy shack, the roof looking as if it had caved in years ago and green from the moss that grew on the outer walls.

"_Looks can be deceiving Dea,_" Bee replied, slowing to a stop so she could get out, "_Is that not a human saying?_" She didn't reply, and he transformed, then opened a link to the Commander, 'Optimus, I have a human who was present in the battle in Mission City.'

'Is that so?'

Be nodded, more to himself, 'Yes. I wish for you to meet her.' There was a silence, then the ground shook, Dea squealing and latching onto Bee's leg as the soil beneath her feet shifted, revealing a large staircase going down into a basement. The putrid smell of bleach wafted to the girl's nose and she scrunched it up.

'If you want me to, she must be something,' Optimus said, the line going dead. Bee looked down at the quivering teen, flicking his hand toward the shack.

"There's an elevator inside for you to use." He held up two fingers, then started for the stairs, "Press the button for the second floor." His head disappeared and Dea was left alone. She could either make a run for it, or take a deep breath, suck it up, and see her fate through to the end.

Inevitably, she growled and smacked her hand, stalking toward the abandoned looking house. Pulling open the door, Dea stared in shock; the inside was clean, shining like the stairs Bee went down had been. It appeared to be a sitting room, a couch against the wall to her right, with a small stereo player on a night stand next to it. To her left was the elevator, and in front of her was a sink and a small fridge. She stepped in, bumping the door shut with her hip and making her way to the elevator. Pressing the button, she tapped her foot, feeling suddenly dirty and out of place.

The doors binged open and she jolted, dashing in and pressing the 'LVL2' button. She gripped the silver bar that went around the elevator for dear life,_What the hell am I doing?_ The door binged open again, revealing Bee leaning up against the wall, scratching at his face.

"Oh!" he straightened, "We're going to see my commander, Optimus Prime." He beckoned to her and started out. She had to jog to keep up with him – he_did_ sort of have, oh… I don't know _long legs!_ – and kept her mouth shut. The made a few turns, passing what Dea assumed to be sleeping quarters, and a medical bay before taking a right and entering into a brightly lit room.

Standing in front of a rather large looking computer stood another bot, she assumed this to be Optimus. He was taller than Bee, and when he heard their approach he turned, letting Dea get a look at the paint job – he was the blue semi with the red flames, "There you are." He faced them completely, "Miss, I am Optimus Prime. Bumblebee tells me you were present during our battle with the Decepticons." She nodded, "I'm not surprised that there were witnesses. What does surprise me is that none have stepped forward to tell their tale."

On there way, Bee had explained the jist of things. His group were called the Autobots, and they fought against the Decepticons, who were led by Megatron – the funny looking jet – before Sam killed him. How, Bee wouldn't say, and Dea wasn't in a mood to push for information.

Dea shrugged, "Government conspiracy most likely." Bee sent her a disapproving look, but Optimus chuckled.

"Your government does seem to keep many secrets from it's people." He bent down on one of his knees, so she wouldn't feel as intimidated as her energy levels suggested, "Your designation?"

"My name is Dea Barr." She ran her hands through her hair, "If I may ask a question, Mr. Prime—"

"Optimus is fine."

"Okay, Optimus," she locked eyes with the larger mech, "What exactly do we do now?" He chuckled again, obviously he thought she was kidding.

He stood back up to his full height and looked at Bee, "Ratchet and Ironhide are both out, so just take her to her home. We'll have her come again soon." Optimus glanced at her. She had paled considerably, and was fidgeting with the sleeve of her hoodie, tied around her waist at this point.

Bee nodded, "Later then Optimus." Optimus clapped Bee on his shoulder before the yellow bot turned and lifted her up, setting her on his shoulder. When she gave him a confused look, he shrugged, causing her to squeal as she was lifted up and down along with the motion, "This way saves time."

"Why'd you have me take the elevator in the first place then?" Dea asked, bopping his head lightly.

"I wanted you to know how to get it for if you get here on your own or are with someone less likely to be willing." They turned a corner, the stairs at the end of the hallway. He started up them, going slowly at first before so Dea could get her grip before he took a faster pace. When they got about halfway up, they came upon a door, a small window letting Dea see that it lead to a dead end hallway with doors on either side.

Bee took notice of her questioning eyes, "This base was started as soon as the battle in Mission City was over. At the time, we had need of human facilities in the base. The first floor is just that. There's a cafeteria, and bathrooms in each room, but they don't get much use as of late."

"Huh." She continued to eye the door until she could no longer see it, and then turned her attention back to in front of her, where they were reaching the top of the stairs. Bee pressed a button to their left, and the mechanical doors slid to the side, the darkened sky now above their heads. She sighed, her feet hitting the ground as Bee helped her down. He transformed, and she blearily crawled into the passenger seat, curling up in a ball.

As she started to doze, Bumblebee brought up a hologram driver – a young teen Dea's age with clipped blond hair with black tips on his spiked up bangs accompanied with blue eyes – and began the trek to her house. He left the radio off, opting for the sound of her deep breathing. He began to hum a lullaby that was a pleasing tune, and the girl reacted instantly to it, falling asleep fully before they even hit the main road.

"Humans and their music," smiled the hologram.

* * *

Light Note: Woo! Yeah, us humans and our confusing obsession with music. –giggle- Anyway, first chapter is complete! I hit some hard patches, and had a few moments where I pondered whether or not –enter subject here- could actually do –enter action here- but I finished it(much to my friend Maieve Avvi's prodding and pestering me). Tell me what you think and what you like!

Light of Heaven


	2. Movement in the Water

Song of the Fallen  
Chapter 2: Movement in the Water

"_Blah blah"_ –Transformer talking in car mode  
_Blah blah_ –thinking  
'Blah blah' –Cybertronian and private links.

Transformers ain't mine  
Dea Barr is.

Light Note: Chapter 2! Alright! It's only the second chapter and already I'm in a hurry to get to a certain part! –sigh- Well, I'm excited, because I got wonderful reviews, and a few adds, so people seem to like it! As my thanks, here's the next installment! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

There was a buzzing sound that she recognized as her alarm clock, and Dea used her instinct to slam her palm down on the snooze button. Her eyes took a moment to obey to her command of opening, and she groaned, blinking to get used to the light that seemed to filter through her blinds, no matter how tightly closed they were, "I need curtains or something," she grumbled and sat up, rubbing her shoulder as she listened to the sound of her father's car rev up.

Flinging the blankets off, she flicked on the stereo next to her bed and pressed the play button, bobbing her head in time to the music that began to play. The car revved again, and she heard it start down the road. Now that the threat was gone, she sang openly, hitting the high notes as best she could, being more of an alto now that she was in high school. She opened the sliding doors of her closet and leaned on them, pondering whether she should go long sleeve or short.

"I can always push the sleeves up on the long sleeve, but the short sleeve gives more freedom." She sighed – this was a daily battle with herself. Opting for a quarter sleeve shirt – the sleeves were white, and the chest section was black, the band name Lynyrd Skynyrd in fancy design on the front – and light wash hip hugger jeans, she threw the clothes on her bed and headed to the shower.

It was a quick one, she never had much time in the morning since she had to wait for her father to leave for work, and she was out within five minutes. She dried off and slipped into her clothes, tugging on some socks while she was at it. Dea started for the kitchen, grabbing her charging cell on her way out, and flipped it open, checking the time. She pocketed it into her hoodie, and opened the cupboard, pulling out a packet of maple and brown sugar oatmeal – she didn't eat the other kinds – and began making it, humming along with the music blaring from her room.

Today was Sunday, which meant she got to sit around and do a bunch of nothing all day while she recuperated from whatever she had done on Saturday. And seeing as her Saturday had been more that just a little eventful, she was going to need a lot more rest then she was allowed.

Dea blinked back surprise at the time; right about now in her old neighborhood her neighbor would be getting up and pulling open her blinds so they could dance along to Dea's music together. Instead she was being greeted with a loud 'TURN THAT DAMN MUSIC DOWN!' and a few choice curses. The girl shrugged, obliging only because she didn't want anyone complaining to her father, and came back into her kitchen just in time for water to start boiling. She added the liquid to her oatmeal, stirring as she made her way to the table.

However, she was stopped on her journey to a sitting position by a loud honk from her driveway. Oh GOD! Her dad couldn't have forgotten anything could he? She laid everything out in the exact same way she'd been doing for a year and her mother had been doing even longer, meaning there was no way! Then who was out in the front?

She put her food on the table and slinked over to the window, pulling the curtains back enough to get a perfect view of a yellow Camaro with black racing stripes sitting in her driveway with the windows tinted so she couldn't see inside. Unwittingly yelping, she threw the curtains shut and bolted away from the window, cowering behind one of the dining chairs.

"Oh this is not happening!" Dea whined, her eye starting to twitch, "No! I've got it! Sam is just here to see if I want to hang out!" She nodded to herself, rising to pace the length of the room, "Yeah! I mean, there's no way yesterday happened!" She shook her head, "Oooh no! You know how your mom died, and THAT is definitely a talking robot Camaro!"

"No! There's other Camaro's in the world! OBVIOUSLY we had a misunderstanding the other day and got in the wrong car."

"But Sam and Mikaela knew what was going on."

"GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY!"

"How would Sam and Mikaela knowing what's happening be a conspiracy?"

"I don't know, what do I look like – a genius on the subject?"

"So just admit that you are now friends with talking aliens."

"Robot aliens and I still say that it's just Sam and Mikaela coming to hang out."

"Then you're afraid why?"

"Because there IS still a chance that the Camaro out there is a talking robot named Bumblebee who wants me to go meet more of his kind."

"And?"

Dea growled and threw herself up the stairs to her room, locking anything she saw on her way. Once in her room, she cursed at the other voice currently taking up rent in her brain and flew back down, grabbing her oatmeal in time for another honk to greet her back. Shutting herself up in her room, she began eating her breakfast from the safety of her closet – shielding herself from behind a twelve year old sweater from 'Grandma.'

"Dea?"

Said girl froze, shrinking back further into the closet while simultaneously shoveling food into her mouth. The voice seemed a bit impatient, and proved that theory by tapping on her glass. Who in the world was tall enough to reach her window?

_A giant talking robot alien?_

'_QUIET YOU!'_ the red head screamed at herself, making a mental note to see a shrink after this ordeal was over.

Deciding that the best course of action was to sit in the closet and pretend she wasn't home, she stood up and left the safety of her closet and started for the window that the tapping was behind. Careening to a halt she felt her mouth hanging open and she looked between the closet and her feet, "What are you doing?"

Against her mental will, she continued to the window, pulling down on the blinds long enough to see what appeared to be a blue eye sorta kinda maybe blink at her before she screamed and ran to the door, yanking it open and bolting downstairs, "ROBOT! HOLY CRAP SHACK IN THE BOONDOCKS IT'S A ROBOT!"

She skidded to a halt beside the dining table, her hands upon it to stead herself – she got up to fast and her vision had began to go all Technicolor on her. Shaking the feeling away, she listened intensely as she heard metallic shifts, Bee was transforming again. Dea could feel the rational part of her brain welling up for another attack, so she beat it to the punch, running outside as the car parked itself in front of the house again – to play another game of 'honk and wake the neighbors', she was sure.

At her entrance to the front yard, the window closest to her rolled down and she was greeted by a young, good looking but obviously younger teen sitting in the driver's seat. The itching sensation coming from her arm told her it was probably Bee using a hologram, "Hey!" she said casually, while conveying with her eyes that she was going to kick his tires to her heart's content as soon as they were alone, "What are you doing here _this early?"_ Dea's voice squeaked the final two words, another testament to her aggravation at his early arrival – not that they had set a time.

"My scan's told me you had awakened, so I came to get you. We're to go see Ironhide at the Lennox's, then we're off to meet Ratchet – I'm due for a checkup anyway, so we kill two birds with one stone, yes?" Bee's hologram peered up at her, giving a nervous grin as she scowled in through the window. Dea crossed her arms, shifting her weight onto one foot and tapping the other as the neighbor that yelled about the music came out from his house to get his paper, a robe wrapped lazily around him as he glared between her and the car. In response, the Camaro flipped the music on, old school rock and roll blaring throughout the neighborhood.

The man was startled; he leapt back in surprise and dropped his paper. Picking it up in an obvious angry manner – he could at least be a bit more discreet with his displeasure – he stalked back to his home, casting a nasty glare at the pair before disappearing inside.

The human couldn't help but crack a smile, "Alright, for that I'll forgive you. But can I at least finish having a little time to be normal?" She leaned forward a bit, "Please?" the hologram nodded, and Bee revved his engine to further show he understood. What he wouldn't give right now to be sharing a medium grade with Arcee…

"Okay, I'll be waiting here."

She let an ear-splitting grin come to her face and she patted the top of the car lovingly, "You're awesome Bee!" She jogged back to the house and closed the front door behind her, tapping it once before turning back to her living room, "Okay… So I've showered, eaten, been scared shitless, and pissed off my neighbor. Crap; my morning is almost complete!" The only thing left to do, however, was start on her homework. Trudging up to her room, she grabbed her backpack and threw it closer to her bed, which she lumbered onto and sighed.

Dea removed the cell phone from her pocket when it vibrated, and she looked at the random string of numbers in interest. Flipping it open, she said into the speaker, "Hello?"

"Dea?"

"… Yes Bee?"

"I was just wondering. What exactly in your morning ritual do you have left to do?"

She rolled her shoulders. She made a sarcastic guess in her head, _Hmm… Me thinks he's a bit impatient._ "Math homework, why?" She stood up and walked down the hallway to her father's room; the window there overlooked the front yard while hers overlooked the back. She pulled at the curtains so she could see the Camaro, her eyebrow raised slightly.

"Is it possible for you to do this later?"

"Depends."

"On?"

"On how long you plan on keeping me today," Dea explained, moving from the window back to her room. She sat on the edge of her bed, leaning into the corner her bed was situated into, "I really suck at math."

"If it's too late when we return, I'll help you to do it."

She smiled at Bee's generous offer, but the fact she was scratching her arm gave her something to worry about, "Promise?"

"Promise."

Dea started for the door, and walked down the hallway to the bathroom that was the halfway point between hers and her father's room. Giving herself a once over, she nodded and spoke again to Bee, "Be down in five."

* * *

The brightly colored car pulled into a driveway, the passenger door opening as Dea stepped out, slipping her sunglasses back so she could get a look at the colors surrounding her. The Lennox's – Will, Sarah, and baby Annabelle – were the charges of Ironhide, the weapons specialist of the group. Dea had immediately pegged him to be one of those 'overly masculine' types, and was spurred into curiosity mode by Bumblebee's silence.

She whistled lowly, "Lots of green." She said to Bee, who brought up his hologram so he could roll his eyes at her. She stuck her tongue out at him in return, and started up the front steps, knocking kindly on the door. As she waited, Dea popped her back; the car ride had been longer than she had anticipated and resulted in Dea pissing off Bee by swinging into a roaring round of ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall until he threatened to kick her out and make her walk. When Dea had retorted that she didn't know the way, he remarked back that he'd tell her how. That's what cell phones were for. She retaliated by not speaking for the rest of the ride, irking the young spy even more than when she was singing.

"Hello?" A woman – evidently Sarah – answered, the door opening to let the smell of brunch fill the young teen's nose, "Oh! Will! The girl is here!" Sarah ushered her into the living room, giving a little wave to Bee, then shut the door. Wheeling her into the kitchen, Sarah sat Dea down at an empty seat and started to make another plate of food.

William Lennox stared at her from across the table, using a piece of bacon like a pointer, "So you're the girl Optimus was talking about?" Dea nodded, her eye twitching as he waggled the bacon again as he continued to speak, "Great, another munchkin like Sam and Mikaela." Will gave a laugh, then popped the remaining bit of bacon into his mouth right as Sarah came back to the table with her plate.

"Eat up Dea, and Will! Don't go saying things like that." She scowled at her husband and continued over to Annabelle, picking up the baby's spoon and feeding her some of her food, "I'd like to see you hook Bumblebee up to a tow truck and drive him around town while being fired at! Or standing up to Megatron and shoving the cube into his spark!" She took a deep breath, rubbing her redden cheeks with her free hand as she scraped off some excess of the baby food that had dribbled down the baby's chin.

Will soured, sinking further into his chair as he grumbled back a response, "I would have if I hadn't been preoccupied with a certain Decepticon…" He pushed his scrambled eggs back and forth on the floral dinner plate, "But noooo! I was busy. With a certain Decepticon."

She waved her hand absently at him, throwing a smirk over her shoulder, "Yes, yes! What you did was _oh so important_." Annabelle giggled, and Dea couldn't help but laugh herself, not even knowing the full story.

Both seemed to remember she was there, and Sarah smiled apologetically at her, "Sorry about that." The teen shook her head with a smile of her own, and piled a forkful of hash browns into her mouth.

"Oh, no worries!" Absently pocketing the bit about the spark for later questioning, "Things like this happened all the time at my house." The woman smiled, and resumed feeding Annabelle, the wore 'happened' floating around her mind.

"Ironhide seems to be late." Will pointed out, looking at his watch as he came back from putting his plate and cup in the sink, "Usually the speed demon is here early, so this is new." Dea just dipped her head, agreeing with whatever he said, since Will knew him better than she.

An engine roared outside, followed by another that Dea had memorized as Bee's, "Oh! Looks like you spoke too soon!" Dea laughed and polished off her food and her milk, thanking Sarah and giving the dishes a quick rinse, then ran for the front door, yanking it open to find a black truck parked next to Bee, "GMC Topkick!"

"That's Ironhide to you human," the truck huffed, and Bumblebee opened his passenger door as Dea came up, her sunglasses sitting happily on her face, "And don't you forget it." She gave him a funny look as she slipped into the seat and smiled at the hologram.

"Let's get this freak show in the road then!" The Camaro revved, peeling out after the Topkick who was leading them toward the country. Dea took out the iPod that had been stored in her pocket, situating the headphones into her ears, she blasted the music – Crushcrushcrush by Paramore. Bee's hologram looked over at her, still facing the road. He smiled when she started singing along, her voice greatly contrasting her normal one.

They hit the dirt roads, dust flying out from under the wheels creating puffs of muddy clouds. Dea watched serenely, her fingers tapping out the beat of her music. Pulling to a stop, the human got out and waited patiently for the mechs to transform before jumping into question mode.

"Hi I'm Dea, you're Ironhide? What's with the cannons? Do you have a girly friend? What was fighting in the war like? Are you like some hardened veteran, or more like the ones that come back crazy?" She would have continued if Ironhide hadn't twitched- the girl already grating on his nerves- and brought out his cannons, shutting her up quickly and efficiently.

"Quiet or Primus be with me I'll shoot." She opened her mouth to say that she was already quiet when the sound of the weapons charging made her change her mind, "Yes. They're for fighting. That's none of your business. Chaos, Hardened veteran." She gave a small shrugged, looking over at Bee.

"Can I speak now?" Ironhide nodded, but didn't put the guns away in case she proved to be difficult, "You are the most aggravating anything I've ever met, and we only just did. So you know what that says about you? GET THE STICK OUT OF YOUR ASS!" The weapons specialist yelled something at her in Cybertronian, and before she could even blink, Bee had tackled the older mech to the ground as a plasma shot went right above her head. The only comprehensible thing going through her mind slipped out of her mouth, causing the now wrestling mechs to pause and look at her curiously.

"Oh HELL no."

Her mouth was hanging open, her eyes wide. Bee took notice of the single stray hair that was slowly burning it's way towards her scalp, and in a cartoon-y fashion as she licked her fingers to snuff it out. The silence that followed afterwards deserved it's own spectator walking away slowly while saying 'awkward' as they did.

Ironhide watched her warily for a reaction, and promptly fell on his head – he had Bee in a headlock and took the scout with him – as Dea burst out laughing, clutching her gut from the action. The mechs looked at each other and Bee shrugged the best he could.

"Yes, she is always like this I think," He said to Ironhide as the weapons specialist stood and offered him a hand. Bee took it and was hoisted up. Dea was busy wiping away the tears of laughter from her eyes, "It'll take some getting used to."

She shook her fist up at him, "Oh hush! You aren't any better mister 'oh! She JUST woke up let's go take her to meet the other's of my kind with a groggy head!'" Dea sniffed her nose at him, "I'll have you know I'm MUCH more level headed in _normal_ situations." The Camaro rolled his blue optics and transformed, Ironhide following suit.

"Let's hope so…"

"Whatever, let's get you back to the Lennox's," he said to Ironhide, "And you off to Ratchet," he directed at Dea, with the passenger door ajar. Dea cast a glance in Ironhide's direction then got in, covertly hiding the smile that lit up her face. As the engine purred, Dea flicked on the radio to the local rock station, blaring the music as loud as her ears could take – which, in retrospective, was astonishingly loud.

The Topkick planted more space between him and the Camaro which was pulsating along with the bass. Venting his system in a sigh, Ironhide's hologram that had just activated – they were turning onto a more used road – shook his head, "She's almost as bad as _he_ was…"

The two cars separated at the end of the road, Ironhide continuing on to the Lennox's while Bee and she turned a corner and started for the base. Dea turned around to wave at the truck, then smiled and lowered the sound.

"He seems nice…"

They were about halfway, a few more miles and they'd be turning onto the dirt road to the base, and Dea had remained quiet for most of the ride. The query had caught him a big off guard, and the car dipped slightly to the left. Dea smiled at the projection, but there was something hidden beneath her pale green eyes that gave the Autobot worry.

Bee revved his engine, the hologram giving her a questioning look, "Oh really?" She nodded, the smile shrinking faintly.

"Okay, so I'm assuming he's a nice guy here, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's the Karen of the group." Dea pulled one of her legs under her, giving her more height to see out the window. Bee continued to give her that confused look.

"His designation isn't Karen…" he frowned, displeased by Dea's memory capability. She, on the other hand, thought his answer was simply hilarious and began to laugh loudly, gripping her stomach as she leaned forward, already finding it hard to breath. She wiped at a tear that had formed from her fit, shaking her head with a smile when Bee asked her to explain.

"No, no, let's just move on…" She snorted, then cleared her throat, trying very hard to calm down and have a serious talk about the new Autobot she had just encountered, "But really though, he's either a bit arrogant about his cannons, and feels that it's absolutely necessary to shove them in people's face for someone to give them the recognition they 'so rightly deserve' or he's anti social, and uses them as a way to start conversations." She paused to look over at the hologram as it disappeared since they were now far enough on the back roads to not need it, "Either way he should show not tell."

The disembodied voice sounded as perplexed as his hologram had looked, "I don't understand. Why should he show them, but not tell them?"

She shrugged, "Why TELL them he's the best weapon's guy around when he can SHOW them via shooting his cannons and something _that can't die_," she added the last part quickly and under her breath, but Bee chortled along with her despite that, "Anyway, this Ratchet; what's he like?"

The Camaro slipped from his straight path, almost as if he was fidgeting, "Ratchet is our doctor." When he didn't say anymore, she poked the dashboard, "He can be a bit…extreme." He finally said after the sixth poke. She raised her brow and made a interesting sound with her throat, but said nothing more on the subject; instead, she flicked about different subjects – at one point talking completely in Spanish. It took him a moment to download the language, but after that he was fine.

When the shack finally came into sight, and Dea had reverted back to English, she stretched her back, relishing the popping of her joints. She blinked a few times, something the young Bot had picked up as a warning signal. He tensed up, waiting for whatever it was the girl was thinking about.

"Okay, define extreme."

* * *

Bee wasn't surprised to find Dea huddling behind his leg, peering up at the doctor with a suspicious glare from behind his armor. Ratchet looked from the human to Bee, who explained her hesitance in Cybertronian.

'The girl is afraid of you throwing things at her.' The yellow spy explained, brandishing a hand down at Dea, who looked up and yelled something vulgar in Spanish about not understanding and him being a cheap skate. Ratchet tilted his head down at the young bot.

'And why would she be afraid of me throwing something at her?'

'She told me do define extreme… Pertaining to you.'

The medic barked a laugh, then put his hands out, palms up, for Dea to see, "I'm not going to throw something at you, don't fret little one." Dea slowly moved out from behind Bee, running forward and poking the medic in the foot, then ran back to Bee.

"What about now?" He was staring at the offending spot, then – in what she assumed to be him raising a brow at her human stupidity, or her stupidity in general – looked up at her, perplexed.

"I hardly see the purpose or your actions…" Ratchet shrugged his massive shoulders, and Dea again came out from her hiding place, "but I will assure you that a human is not someone I would throw something at without good reason."

The girl flicked at her bangs with her fingers, "And what would be a good reason to throw something at a human?" Ratchet bent down to her level and gave her a wink, which she couldn't help but smile at.

"If they hurt the people I care about."

Dea squealed lightly, jumping up and down while clapping her hands. She stopped with her bouncing and pointed a finger at Ratchet, her face finally splitting into her default smile, "You're like a freaking superhero when you say it like that!"

Bee smiled and leaned against the doorframe with his hip, his arms crossed as he watched Dea returned to what he assumed was normal – speed asking questions a mile a minute while Ratchet sat very un-Ratchet like – Indian style- on the floor answering just as fast. A few minutes past of this, and the scout felt Optimus place a hand on his shoulder.

"She seems to be enjoying herself," the Commander noted, his optics seemed to shine with happiness when Bee smiled back at the older mech and nodded. By Primus, he'd be best friends with Megatron if Bumblebee said that he liked him. Together they watched as the tables turned and Ratchet began asking the questions, glowing with glee like a sparkling again.

"Well…Not exactly," Dea explained to the doctor, her face tinted a bit pinker than usual, "See, we don't actually want to know EVERYTHING about our bodies at all times. Some things are best left unsaid." She grinned brightly, "You'll do well to remember that Daddy-O!"

"Daddy-O?" Ratchet frowned, "I'm not your father…" She snorted a laugh, shaking her head and waving her hand at him in a gesture meaning that wasn't the point.

"But you're a father _figure_! What with the whole 'if they hurt the people I care about' thing and your voice is that deep comforting rumbling sound… Therefore! You are a father like figure to people." She shrugged her shoulders, all this making more sense in her head, "You guys are like my Autobot family! So I need to hand out the titles." She paused, "Don't worry! No one here is Mommy…"

Bee cleared his throat and Dea filled in the blank, "Ironhide isn't either. I don't think that Bot could be motherly if he tried." The mechs in the room glanced at each other before submitting themselves to the tickling feeling of a laugh. Optimus stepped past Bumblebee, seating himself in one of the massive chairs, "Optimus is like the awesome grandfather who always has candies and stories about the days of old, when he had to walk up hill both ways in the snow with no shoes on to get to school, that are always changing."

The Commander peered down at the girl, "How…flattering." Dea choked on her spit, Ratchet leaning forward worriedly. She waved him off and took a deep breath, her shoulders sagging.

"Okay, that… Was one of the more funnier things I've seen in my life." Optimus did the equivalent to scowling at the girl, who just grinned up at him. They held that for a few moments, before Optimus sighed and turned away, "And Bee!" She continued, "Would be like my little brother! 'Cause he's just so cute and god damn adorable!"

Bee's faceplates heated slightly, and he coughed, turning away from the human, "I'm glad you find me to be 'adorable'…" He paused to collect his thoughts, "I think." Dea again laughed, suddenly finding the whole situation funny. Ratchet smiled and opened a link to the Commander.

'I rather like this human!' he told Optimus enthusiastically, who was hiding a smirk at Bee's discomfort.

'Yes, I do as well,' Bee mocked stepping on the girl as she squealed about him being as 'cute as a button' 'A bit eccentric though, don't you think?'

'She'll get along well with some of the others, that's for sure.' The doctor didn't have to name names – Optimus knew he was referring to Wheeljack, and probably Arcee as well.

'As long as he doesn't decide he wants to dissect her, I'm sure they'll get along well enough.' Dea bolted past Optimus in the chair, making a U-turn to hid behind Ratchet.

"Daddy! Bee's picking on me with his superior height!" She cried, hugging onto one of his arms that he was leaning on. He turned his head slightly to look at her. She had obvious fear on her face, but his scans showed that it was all in mirth. Settling on playing along with her joke, he stood and shook a sort of angry finger at Bumblebee.

"Now what have I told you about picking on your sister?" Bee giggled, then pretended to pout.

"Don't." he said with a mockery of a sigh, playfully glaring at the human, who teasingly stuck her tongue out at him.

If Optimus hadn't known better, he'd say he was dealing with either a) a group of sparklings or b) a bunch of drunken idiots. However, he found him self rising, bending over and holding his lower back with one arm – the stereotypical grandfather.

He lowered his voice and added a funny sounding accent to it as he shook his free fist, saying a line from some movie he downloaded from the Internet, "You kids with your baggy jeans and your loud music!"

The four burst out in open hilariously loud laughter, bringing a few of Ratchet's baby meds into the doorway, all wondering what in the worlds had caused the medic and the Commander to act like a newborn on a high. Optimus was the first to notice their audience, clearing his throat and desperately trying to regain his composure. Ratchet was next, rubbing the back of his head in a similar fashion to Sam. Bee and Dea's laughter began to short out as both pivoted around to notice the still growing group of people – all eager to see THE Optimus Prime and THE Ratchet laughing like maniacs.

"Yes, well…" Optimus shuffled his feet, "That's quite enough of that! Move along, nothing to see here." Ratchet accompanied the sentence with a shooing motion. Their audience seemed to groan – but barely audible in case of punishment – and slowly began to trickle away, leaving only one standing in the doorway.

She was a femme by far shorter than the two older mechs, but taller than Bee, with a light pink finish. The femme gave off a distinct vibe, and Dea thought indistinctly that looks were deceiving with this new one.

Her thoughts were attested when Prime leapt to attention, Ratchet doing the same a little behind, and Bee finding sudden interest with the floor, "I JUST make planet fall, and this is what I find… A Commander, a distinguished medic, and a superb youngling spy acting like a bunch of fools?"

Optimus made a move to speak, but Dea was ready with an answer faster, "I have that effect on everybody…" The femme's blue eyes turned from the Commander onto her, but Dea's gaze held strong. She blinked, as if impressed, then spoke to her.

"And who might you be?"

"Dea!" She chirped, "Local human moronic fluffy ball of cuteness – don't try to make any sense of that." The light pink femme crossed her arms, making her armor shine with silver flecks, "Though for the most part the moronic thing is true."

She tipped her head, offering a reply, "I am Elita One." Dea's eyes dancing from Bot to Bot, straying to watch Optimus try and discreetly fidget before allowing a sly smirk to come to her face.

"Oh I get it now."

Bee perked up, looking at the girl with interest, "You do?"

"Miss Elita is the one who wears the pants in the relationship, no?" She asked Optimus, who – if given the chance – would have rather been in the Matrix with Jazz then in the middle of this conversation.

Elita raised a delicate brow, "How did you know Optimus and I were bonded?"

The human gave a slight shrug, picking at the dirt under her nails in an arrogant fashion, "Girls with power tend to make for good sex." She looked at the male bots, who looked as if they'd never seen the room before, "I figured the same would work here, so I'm assuming you have power, and since you DO have power you're going to go with someone who has similar perks as you and or understands the problems and or other reasons."

The femme smiled, a wondrous sight Dea noted, and walked over to Optimus, standing by his side with her arms wrapped around his bicep, "You are perceptive Dea."

"I try."

Optimus – choosing now to remember why he'd come here in the first place – looked at the red headed human and spoke, the Commander Hat obviously on by the tone. Elita dislocated herself from his arm and stood army style 'hands clasped behind the back' as he spoke, "Dea there is a matter that you and I must attend to. Elita, do you wish to join me in debriefing our newest friend?"

Elita nodded, leading the way out of the room as Dea waved rather childishly at Ratchet and blew a kiss to Bee, who looked rather dumbfounded by the measure, "Yes of course." She snickered lightly behind her hand as he fell into step beside her, Dea sitting contently in his upturned palm, "Old man,"

"OYAJI!"

* * *

Optimus's office was spacious, looked to be worthy of the high status, but bare. Dea stared blankly around the room, not really having anything to look at, she turned to examine Elita.

The femme had the armor of a fighter, slender, but definitely powerful cannons that matched her physique were hidden beneath the armor located on her arms, and her pink finish did indeed have silver flecks floating throughout the paint job. Overall, Elita reminded the girl of a jellyfish. They were cute and squishy, yes, but they had stingers that could kill a man.

"Dea," she leapt to attention at Optimus's voice, who was now sitting behind the large desk. Elita leaned on the side of the desk, her hands crossed over her chassis, "You know that the Allspark is destroyed, yes?"

Dea nodded, "Yeah, Bee told me that. He didn't tell me how, just that it was." The femme nodded and looked over at Optimus, hiding her face from the human's view.

"The human Sam, Optimus told me that he shoved the Allspark into Megatron's," Dea scowled at the name, "spark, killing him but taking the Allspark with it."

The large mech continued, "Except for a very small piece." He reached for something in a pouch on his leg, bringing out a broken piece made of a dark silver metallic finish. There were remnants of strange symbols gilded into the surface that shone every time Optimus moved, "This is all that's left of our 'life source' of sorts."

Elita took the piece and cradled it like a mother would a child, "It's such a shame, but it's a price we must pay for our foolishness." Dea rubbed at her arm.

"Life source?"

Elita glanced at the girl, moving to bend down to her level – a feat much easier for her than Optimus- and spoke, her voice low and somber, "We will have no more children Dea." Her finger moved absently over the remainder, "Bumblebee is the last child we will ever see."

Dea blinked, her eyes unfocused themselves from Elita's face, "You're going extinct…" Optimus shrugged, and she heard a rumble that she assumed to be him speaking, but her ears couldn't seem to register the sounds, "Extinct…" She fell back a step, the femme's hand the only thing keeping her upright, "No more sparklings…"

Elita glanced at Optimus, "Will she be alright?" He sighed, moving to take the girl into his hand, but Elita lifted the girl herself, cradling her next to the Allspark piece, "I will take her to Ratchet. He will see to her."

Optimus smiled gently at Elita's back as she departed, speaking only when the door was securely closed, "She is quite fond of the girl already I see…"

Ratchet looked up from Bee's voice modulator, blinking in confusion as Elita entered, her arms protecting something from view, "Is everything alright?" She moved her hand to show the now sleeping Dea, and both mechs made a move for her.

"She is fine, calm yourselves. The news of our fate seemed to effect her more than I anticipated." Elita set the girl down on the table and pocketed the piece into her subspace pouch to return to Optimus after Dea was seen to. Ratchet made a final adjustment to Bee's voice box, standing from his chair as he pushed the youngling's chassis back into place. Walking towards the female commander, he scanned the human.

"Dea just needs to sleep. We will hold her here until she awakes, then Bumblebee can return her to her home," Ratchet told her, motioning with his hand for Bee to take a seat or leave. The Bot sat in the chair that had been previously occupied by Optimus, since it had a perfect view of the table.

"She is queer, yet a very smart individual," Elita informed Ratchet, who nodded and glanced at Dea. She shifted, rolling over onto her side and curling up into herself for warmth.

"And has already made quite an impression," the medic agreed, the three bots sharing a small laugh, "It is quite surprising though." Ratchet continued, moving a stray piece of hair from the girl's face.

Bee bopped his head, "Yeah! Sam gave her rides to and from school for the first week, and I got to know her by observing… Then on Saturday, when I heard her talking about what happened to her, I don't know," he cleared his throat, a little uncomfortable speaking so openly with Elita in the room as he wasn't all that used to any femme besides Arcee – who in his eyes _barely_ counted.

"You felt so close with her. You shared common ground."

Ratchet and Bee shared a look, one Elita knew not the meaning of, "Yes… The war, Megatron taking something dear…" Elita seemed perplexed, "Her mother." She donned a look of shock and glanced down at the girl again, "It's unfortunate, but it lead her to us."

The young Bot snickered, "Yeah, to her new daddy."

Elita smiled when the medic scratched at his cheek plate and looked away, "Wait until she meets her mother."

Dea's arm itched, and she began to dream of waves.

* * *

Light Note: Yahoo! Alright, so chapter two has drawn to a close, let me know what you think, and I'll be working on chapter three! –wants to get to the Jazz parts already- Oh! And if anyone is a songwriter, PM me because I have a special task for you!

Thanks!

Light of Heaven


	3. Bring on the Thunder

Song of the Fallen  
Chapter 3: Bring on the Thunder

"_Blah blah"_ –Transformer talking in car mode  
_Blah blah_ –thinking  
'Blah blah' –Cybertronian and private links.

Transformers ain't mine  
Dea Barr is.

Light Note: Lots of good stuff in here, minor time skip, nothing to worry about. I'm excited because I'm another chapter closer to the good stuff! Gah! Can't wait! Well, who am I to bore you with my rantings, so here's the next chapter.  
OH! And I'm sooo sorry that this took as long as it did! I'm so thankful for all the faves and reviews that I've gotten thus far, and I SWEAR that Two Girls Too Much won't take up too much of my time!

* * *

Dea stretched upward, standing on the balls of her feet as she used the tips of her fingers to push. Sam held onto her hips, facing the side to please an uneasy Mikaela, who was watching from the corner of her eyes to make sure her friend was being taken care of, "Hold her tighter! I saw her move a little."

The red head, glad for the worry, but annoyed by the over protection, scoffed, "Mikaela, I kind of have to move to get these up there…" The lights dangled limply from her hands as she returned to her normal stance. Bee giggled at the humans from the open door, much to the girl's displeasure.

"Why don't we just get Bee to stick his hand in here and put them up?" Sam offered, picking Dea up from the chair and setting her on the ground. She glanced up at the teen male.

"Or mister 'I'm taller than you – ha ha what now?' can use his superior height to put them up." Mikaela rebutted, motioning with her free hand at the chair, "Up you go!" Sam rolled his eyes, but obliged. A happy girlfriend meant a happy best friend which meant a boyfriend that was off the hook.

Dea came over to the television, where the brunette female was busy with some plastic garlands they had bought at the local superstore. Wrapping her arms around Mikaela from behind, Dea placed her chin on the girls shoulder, not even turning to see if he was okay when Sam yelped and fell, "Looks better framing it, not drooped in front." Mikaela nodded and changed it, and – still holding onto each other – made their way over to the couch.

Plugging in the lights, Sam joined the two, taking his rightful place between the two girls who snuggled close to him. Not saying that anything other than friendship was going on between Sam and Dea, of course not. They found themselves to be more brother and sister than anything else, and Dea was constantly giving Sam 'too much information' in the past month and a half that they'd all known each other.

Thanksgiving had been wild; Dea giving Sam and Mikaela a taste of a Native American slash Hispanic Thanksgiving, and the three humans in turn, sharing a very special Thanksgiving dinner with the Autobots. It had been a new experience, but one the Cybertronians said was an enjoyable one.

Speaking of Autobots, Bee spoke to the teens through the intercom located in the lounge, "I won't steal your heat any longer, Jetfire and Ironhide are sparring again, and Optimus is out, so I'm going to watch." The door had been closed, and Dea looked from it to her two friends.

"Want to stay here or watch too?"

"Stay."

"Watch."

Mikaela rolled her eyes, "Men…" she said and was taken up along with Sam and Dea.

"I am not a man, and it'll be fun! Jetfire and Hide always have the second best brawls." Dea squealed lightly as they waited for the elevator, "The best being any match Ratchet is in!"

Sam got his turn at rolling his eyes, "You and your father complex…"

She hooked a ride on Red Alert's shoulder to the front. The medic bot had made planet fall a few weeks prior, and Dea had been easily swayed – along with Mikaela – by his baritone voice and charm. The two often referred to him as the Southern Gentlemen, due to the slight drawl that only they could pick up and the fact that he had _much_ more tact than Ratchet.

"Make way, Ratchet's special parcel comin' through," at the mention of the medic the Autobots gathered created a clear path to the front, Dea waving happily to a few as they went. Red Alert switched her off to Bee's free shoulder, her friends seated on the other. She leaned past the youngling's head and waved at Same and Mikaela, "Hey! How's the weather on that side?" The group laughed and turned to watch the sparring match, which hadn't begun yet.

Ratchet's special parcel – the nickname she'd been bestowed by a rare joking Optimus – was a blessing and a burden. While she did get some special treatment, she was the butt of many a joke from Sam. Mikaela would laugh even though she said she thought the name was cute.

"Pretty good. Was parting the Red Sea hard today?" Sam laughed when Dea scowled, "Oh come on! That was a good one!" Mikaela hit his shoulder lightly, telling him that the match had started.

Ironhide, of course, started warming up his cannons, the hum reverberating of the walls of the silent room as the two mechs circled each other. Jetfire crouched low, ready to jump out of the way when he fired. Dea twitched when the cannons fired and Jetfire leapt up and over Ironhide nimbly. He shot a few rounds into the Topkick's lower back, rocketing him forward. He whipped around as Jetfire stood from his landing, and launched himself at Jetfire, the two caught each others punches and turned the brawl into a match of brute strength, something Ironhide specialized in.

Dea made herself watch as the weapon's specialist threw Jetfire over his shoulder, the mech gasping at the sudden pain shooting up his back. Bee looked nervously over at the humans. Sam was watching because of the 'train wreck' scenario, Mikaela looked down right scared for the two mechs lives as she huddled in her boyfriend's arms, but Dea seemed to watch with iron clad determination to not look away.

Jetfire got a hold of Ironhide's arm, twisting it around at an angle that made Dea flinch. The itching in her arm was telling her that she needed to get used to this. The less startled she was by the sights and sounds, the calmer she'd be in a fight. It was how she was slowly getting over her thing with scary movies. Don't look away, don't think about it, just watch.

Ironhide grunted and swept Jetfire's feet from under him and Dea had seen enough judging by Bee's scans, her adrenaline was sky rocketing, so why wasn't she saying anything? The spy pondered this as he tried to keep his attention on the match. The two mechs had clasped hands, trying to push the other to the ground by bending back the hands – Dea called it 'Mercy.'

She flinched when Jetfire went down, and Same glanced between the girls, "Um, I think we should be heading back soon." Mikaela nodded furiously from her spot in Sam's chest. Dea glanced over at the two, finally breaking contact from the mech battle. She pulled her cell from her pocket and checked the time.

"No, I have a good couple of hours left before I have to go home and make dinner," she said, making a come here motion to Red Alert, who came to stand next to Bee so she could jump from one's shoulder to the others. She didn't need to say the last part judging by the male's show of rolling his eyes at her.

See, over the two and a half months that she'd known about the Autobots and all that came with them, she spent most of her time exploring the base. She figured out from the elevator that she could get to eight basement floors. The ninth floor could only be reached from a secret passage in the eighth floor and was a catacomb of corridors, passages and hallways leading downward to the tenth floor, which she had been told by Ratchet, Optimus, and Elita was one hundred percent off limits.

It was her current destination, seeing as the medic and the two commanders were out for the day.

Red Alert took her to the end of the mass of people, setting her down with a dangerous glare, "No."

"WHAT?" She asked with wide eyes, "!Yo no dije nada!" Rambling about her innocence in Spanish, Red Alert remained placid, raising a brow in the appropriate places, "What makes you think I would do anything?"

"Don't think I don't know about your little adventures," he gave her 'the look' "You're going to get yourself into something you can't get out of." She rolled her eyes and turned around, casting a wave over her shoulder.

"Yes Uncle Red."

The red head started for the elevator, making a pit stop at the mess hall on this floor – she grabbed an apple juice fully knowing she'd regret it later when she had to pee – and sipped some of her treasure while she waited for the elevator to ding. She pulled out her phone, pressing a few select buttons that brought her to the calendar. The date flashed at her; November 28. There were just a few more weeks until she would be spending two dreadful weeks cooped up in her house with an irritable father. No visiting friends, family, nothing.

This is what her mother called the "just us" time of year. It was fine when her mother was alive, but now… Now, not so much. The elevator binged open, and Dea looked on either side of her before stepping in, flashing a peace sign at the surveillance camera like she had done the many times before. Hissing shut behind her, the machine prepared for diving deep into the ground, filling the space with extra oxygen.

Her stomach lurched as the elevator dropped at a faster than usual rate, and Dea gripped the rail for dear life. She watched the lights flicker from level to level until it stopped, illuminating the number eight. Another bing and she stepped out into the empty eighth floor. It was all storage, so only a few bots ever came down here.

She'd first been down here with Ironhide, the mech getting a few cases of high grade for his quarters. Dea had promised to not tell anyone what had occurred down here, but Mikaela knew of course. Dea turned a few corners, muttering to herself as she tried to remember how many lefts and how many rights until she got to the right room.

"One more left and the first one on that side," she said clearly as she did so, spying the only door. Now came the hard part – getting it open, "Okay…" She looked for a sign that there was a smaller door. Growling when she realized there wasn't – she never expected there to be one anyway – She took a deep breath. If there was ever a time to have a random Matrix moment, now would be the time.

Running for the wall, her foot made contact and she began trying to run up the wall, getting partially there and leaping with all her might until her hands made contact with the cool metal. Dea pulled down, somehow managing to get the handle down, and the door open. Falling with a slight thud, she shook her hands and admired her work, "Thank god for miracles." She stepped in, the large crates loomed over her, but she continued forward to the back. She pulled at a smaller crate and was rewarded with a small tunnel, but big enough for her to walk in

Not caring how long it'd take her to get through, she waltzed right in, sipping on the apple juice she'd remembered to pick up. There wasn't much to tell about the half and hour or so trek from point A to point B besides Dea breaking into song, talking to herself, skipping, deciding to take a jog for part of the way, and more random songs – This Old Man, 99 More Hours of Torture to Endure and so on – but finally and eventually, she had reached the opening.

Splayed out before her was a massive labyrinth of white walls, taller than any she'd ever seen. The entrance was marked with a black border around the doorway, and through it, she was already beginning to see the twists and turns that lay before her. Whipping out the post it notes she swiped at school, Dea stuck one on the entrance before she entered.. The intention was to become Gretel, dropping bread crumbs so they wouldn't get lost. Contrary to her knowledge of the base's layout, this was her first time on the ninth floor.

She looked up, the white walls faded to gray, and darker so until it was black. It was as if there was no ceiling… Dea frowned, then grinned, "ECHOOO!" She waited for 'science' to come back to her like those crappy old science videos she watched in elementary and middle school but was disappointed.

Wishing herself luck, she peeled off another sticky note and stuck it to the wall, "This should be fun."

* * *

At about the same time as Dea entered the maze, five cars came rumbling to the entrance of the base; one was an neon yellow emergency vehicle, one was a blue and red flamed semi, one was a shimmering pink Toyota Solara, and two were matching red and yellow Corvette Convertibles. They transformed to reveal an angry Ratchet, a perturbed Optimus, a preoccupied Elita, and uneasy new bots who went by the names of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

The medic glared at the new comer's before activating the necessary code to get inside. The ground rumbled and the entrance revealed itself, the five Autobots disappearing into the depths as the door slid shut behind them.

"Ratchet, are we in trouble?" The red twin asked.

Optimus shook his head, "It's not your fault we didn't notice such activities before hand. At least no humans were around to be harmed…" The two commanders let out heavy sighs since they were the ones with the duty to inform everyone of the news, "Ratchet, check to see if Dea is still here after the twins are take care of fully. Elita and myself must tell everyone."

The yellow mech nodded and escorted the twins into the med bay to fix the minor damages they'd received, "Ratchet, who is Dea?" Ratchet grunted and shoved Sunstreaker onto an examiner's table and began inspecting his shoulder. The mech thought it best to remain silent until Ratchet was ready to talk – he learned this after many a wrench to the head.

"She's a human that comes to visit us with Bumblebee's human charges. Lieutenant Jazz had inadvertently protected her during the battle with Megatron so she feels she is in his debt." Ratchet retrieved a tool from the far wall and came back, "Dea is a bit of a trouble maker, so I'm sure the two of you will get along well with her…_Unfortunately_…"

The red twin who was waiting his turn grinned, "Awe come on Doc! We aren't that bad." The medic gave him a 'yes you are' look and finished on Sunny, beckoning to Sides to sit. When he did, he began the needed repairs on the young mech's leg. He finished and with a not too angry finger pointed at the door. They waved and exited quickly, happy to not have been bonked on the head on their first day on this new planet.

Optimus looked around the crowded assembly room, all the bots that had made planet fall so far looking at him and Elita expectantly, "Everyone, I'm afraid this news is not one to rejoice about. The Decepticons are finally making planet fall…" A few gasps were heard from a few civilian femmes that had come in a small group and stuck mainly to themselves. The rest of the group exhibited silent shock, not wanting to believe that it was again the time for war.

"We should have expected as much. With the amount of our soldiers falling back to come here, it's not as if we were going to make a clean escape," Elita frowned and crossed her arms, "And the fact that Starscream is still alive does not bode well for us either. He's probably another reason why they found us."

Ironhide and Bee stepped forward, Hide giving a curt nod before speaking, "Then we'll just have to rip 'em to shreds."

"What of the humans? This is their world and they've only just finished rebuilding from our last battle," Optimus informed the weapon's specialist, who shrunk back and shuffled his feet.

"Yeah, but I still say we should turn those fraggers to scrap," he finished lamely as the twins made their way to the front, "Hey there... Wait—THE TWINS?" Ironhide took a few steps forward to get both younger mechs in headlocks as he rejoiced, "Primus I thought we'd have a little bit more piece before you two showed your ugly mugs!" Hide laughed as they finally freed themselves.

Elita cleared her throat and the mechs silenced themselves, "Everyone must be on guard from here on out. This is no longer a vacation if some of you thought that," her words were directed to the civilian bots that had already arrived, "This is relocating ourselves to a new home, that we must care for and protect at all costs," the female commander swept her gaze out to the rather small group of military mechs – none of the femmes beside her had made planet fall yet – "Are we at an understanding?"

Several nods and a few scarce "Yes ma'am's" told her that they did. She straightened herself up, nodded and left. Optimus gave a few more commands, telling who was to do what and so on, before he too, exited the room. Bumblebee looked at Ironhide and blinked, "Well this doesn't bode well…"

* * *

After many grumbles, a lot of wrong turns, running out of yellow sticky notes _twice_ and stopping to take a small breather, the small red head finally found the end. Sighing heavily, she walked down the small flight of stairs to the tenth floor. She barked a laugh to find the door unlocked, and tugged the door open, revealing the spacious, empty gray room behind it.

"This is not what I was expecting…" Dea said in awe as she stepped into the room, surveying the absolute emptiness. Her eyes were caught by a lone structure in the center of the room. Tall and black, she stalked towards it, eyes narrowed in suspicion. The human blinked, and stepped back a little, rubbing at her left arm as she skirted the object. The strange black box looked too much like a coffin for her tastes.

Distracted by static coming from the walkie talkie she wired to Optimus's communication link after many hours of studying and practicing on Ironhide when he wasn't looking, Dea glanced down at the device attached to her hip, "No, I have something to look up. I'll go to bed soon Elita, there's no need to worry." A slight pause, "Of course. I'll be in my office."

Her eyes wide, Dea cursed a few times in her mother's tongue before bolting for the elevator that she hadn't seen because of the coffin-like thing. She threw her hand on the button, pressing it a few more times than necessary for good measure, "Come on, come on!" Finally, the damn thing dinged and she threw herself in, repeating the button process on the only button there was to press.

Obviously this elevator was only meant to go here, but Dea wasn't too concerned with that thought as she danced about the elevator – still cursing it for being so slow. Her back to the door, it took her a bit to realize the door had opened again and she whipped around and started out, not caring who saw her.

Not that she had to as she was now in…

Optimus Primes's office.

"What the—"

"Oh, Ratchet. Have you seen Dea yet? What did your scans say?"

The voice, Optimus, was right outside the door, causing the girl even more panic as she pressed her body against the wall and prayed for a miracle.

Ratchet answered back, sounding perplexed, "She wasn't anywhere in the base that I could tell, but no one took her home it seems…" A sigh could be heard from Optimus and the sound of the door beginning to open pushed the human girl to do something. Shoving herself off the wall, Dea ran for the Commander's desk and jumped, managing to get her upper half onto it.

As if by some magical force, she pulled herself up and crossed her legs, all while trying to calm her breathing as she gripped her hands together tightly. The door opened and the two mechs entered, then stopped, "Hey you two!" Ratchet stared, then rammed past Optimus to get to the girl.

"Where have you been?"

A pause.

"Here."

He rolled his optics and narrowed them at her, "Where here?"

Dea smiled in response, uncrossing and recrossing her legs as she leaned onto her elbows, "Oot 'n' aboot." He paused to think, "Oh ye of little faith!" Dea pulled herself up and dusted off her butt, "So am I getting a ride home soon or what 'cause—"

Optimus glanced at the girl, "Dea?" She had her phone out and was staring at it intently wide doe eyes so big it put her puppy dog pout to shame, "What's wrong? Are you hurt? What's the problem?"

"She's not hurt, she's just entered a state of shock…" Ratchet stepped forward, crouching low to Dea's face, "Can you hear me? Dea?" He went to poke her, but she brushed off his finger and bolted for the door, not even stopping to wince as she launched herself off the desk.

"Oh my god I'M LATE!" Dea skidded into a wall, but that didn't stop her. She just pushed off it and ran toward the car ramp. It led outside as well, just behind the shack and was disguised as a run down barn, and was faster than waiting for the elevator or climbing the stairs.

Even faster still was going by car.

Before the red Corvette had anything to say in edgewise, Dea had thrown open the door, dived in, and pulled out the wiring needed to hotwire the vehicle, "_What the hell?_" She kicked the dashboard as she stripped the wires with her nails, "_HEY!_" Sticking them together, she sat up as the engine inadvertently – to Sideswipe – roared to life. Dea slammed her foot down on the gas pedal and he shot forward.

"Shut up and go where I tell you to!" the red head screamed at him and grabbed the wheel to make a sharp left turn towards the ramp. He tried to stop her by initiating his brakes, but the action failed as she kicked the dashboard again with a free foot, "I'll put sugar in your fuel tank not QUIT IT!" He finally decided it was best not to say anything and let the girl do what she wanted, it's not like she posed a threat to him but the idea of getting sugar in his brand new fuel tank didn't appeal to him.

As the minutes dragged on and she was forced to slow down due to the lights of the city coming into view, Dea at last introduced herself, "Look I'm sorry to do this to you, but I was in no condition to sit around and wait for Ratchet to call Bee down to take me home… Getting you was much faster." She pursed her lips, "I'm Dea by the way."

"_OH! So you're Dea! Ratchet was saying that we might get along_." Sides exclaimed, "_I'm Sideswipe. Me and my brother Sunstreaker just made planet fall today…_" She wasn't trying to be rude, he was sure… but the half assed nod he got annoyed him greatly. He focused on their surroundings when she pulled to a stop in front of a suburban house and let out a breath of relief.

"He's not home yet… Halle-fucking-lujah!" Dea snorted a laugh and relaxed, "Hey Sides, thanks… I think I'd be dead without you." She opened the door and ran towards the house, not even stopping to close his driver side behind her. She entered the house as he slammed it shut. Since it was so dark due to the weather, he figured he'd be fine driving back without a hologram or tinted windows like Optimus had warned them.

Inside the house, Dea slid to the floor against the door, her breathing still heavy from the tension of being late. With great effort, she pulled herself up and entered the kitchen, pulling things out of the cupboard and the fridge as she prepared dinner, any and all thoughts of the mysterious tenth floor far from her mind.

* * *

Light Note: -victory pose- FINALLY! Yeah I got the idea for Sunny and Sides while at a car dealer with my dad looking at a Pontiac G6 (I LOVE LOVE LOVE that car btw) and I was having such a hard time deciding which Corvette to go with… Haha!  
It's really sad, I started this in late November and I'm just NOW finishing this chapter… -frown- I'll be faster next time don't worry!


	4. A Day in the Life

Song of the Fallen  
Chapter 4: A Day in the Life

"_Blah blah"_ –Transformer talking in car mode  
_Blah blah_ –thinking  
'Blah blah' –Cybertronian and private links.

Transformers ain't mine  
Dea Barr is.

Light Note: This chapter lets you see a bit more into the home life of Dea, so I'm warning you now… Things aren't so pretty. Another minor time skip… Other than that, I'd like to say that Two Girls Too Much isn't my top priority, and that I'm working on this whenever I can, but life likes to throw me a lot of snags, and when you're a cat who's a bit claw happy, you find a LOT of snags… More than you'd think.

* * *

The sound of the car driving off was wonderful, and Dea rose to mark off the night before on her calendar. She scowled and realized that in a few days she'd have to deal with that disgusting holiday known as Valentine's Day, "Well I feel sorry for Bee, but there's no way I'm hanging with the love birds on D-Da—er V-day." She laughed stupidly at her own joke and threw off the covers, pulling on some socks as she rose to the bathroom.

The red head clipped back her bangs and grabbed her toothbrush and brushed her teeth, then washed it with mouthwash, then flossed. After that ritual was complete, she started down the stairs into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl and her favorite cereal. She poured a small amount and complimented it with some milk from the fridge. Snatching a spoon from the drawer on her way back up to her room, the girl shifted through her memory of what shirts were clean and what ones were dirty.

She munched on her breakfast as she got her backpack ready, putting in what books she would need for the day. She opened her closet and grabbed a pair of dark wash straight jeans, then walked over to her dresser as she threw the pants on the bed. Grabbing a bite off the bowl on the top of the dresser, she opened it up, grabbed a black Rolling Stones t-shirt, and let it join the pants on the bed.

Finishing her breakfast, the girl left the bowl on her dresser and went into the bathroom to shower and get dressed. When she was finished, she put on black eye liner and went back into her room. Dea grabbed a pair of discarded socks, slipped them on, shoved her Vans onto her feet and then pulled on a blue Ninja Turtles hoodie with Leonardo's face on the back. Her cell was pocketed and she turned on her iPod, sticking the headphones in her ears and turning it up loud; today's song was Thunder by Girls like Boys. As her head bobbed to the music, she pulled on her backpack and flew down the stairs to the front door as an engine revved.

The smile she had when she opened the door fled her face as she saw the hologram of Sideswipe looking fearfully up at her father who was red in the face, "Father? What are you still doing here? I heard you leave—" she stopped herself when her father glared at her.

"I forgot to grab my damn lunch. You didn't leave it in the right spot." He glanced at the car and she knew what he was thinking, _If your friend wasn't here…_

She spun on her heels into the kitchen and retrieved it, not even caring to note that it was indeed where it was supposed to be, and ran back. Dea forced on a smile as she handed it to him and stepped out onto their porch so she could close and lock the door. Her father huffed and headed for his car, managing another glare at Sideswipe before getting in and driving off. Dea fell against the door and gripped her left hand so it would stop shaking and she could get the key in the lock.

As she turned around, she mustered up her fake smile and bounded down the steps to Sides, "Alright, let's get this show on the road!" The red corvette popped open it's passenger side, and Dea gave a wry smile, "Awe, I don't get to drive?" She giggled as she got in, and Sideswipe's engine rumbled low concern. Dea looked over at the hologram of him – a man about a couple years older than her with a red spiked fohawk and slightly yellow eyes – and gave her best look of innocence, "What?"

"Your heart rate is through the roof, do you need to see a human doctor?" he asked, the hologram's face contorting into a frown, "Or maybe we should take you to Ratchet?" Dea slammed her hand on the dashboard, "OUCH! Hey!"

She glared, "Shut up and drive. Don't make me hotwire you again." He sensed that there was more to the situation at hand, but for right now the best thing to do was to get the human girl to school. That being said, Sides backed out of the driveway and started them towards the Tranquility High.

"Dea—"

"No questions. Just drive."

* * *

The school seemed to take forever to come into view, and Sides wasn't 'forgetting about it' like Dea kept telling him to. Her fingers were drumming on her leg, and she couldn't keep her music player on one song for more than a few minutes. She kept glancing at her fingers, then to the side window, then back to her fingers, not making eye contact with Sideswipe throughout the whole drive as he tried to bring up some casual conversation.

Finally, when Dea thought she couldn't handle any more of him going on about how human weather was so temperamental in some places, she saw the high school. The red head unlocked the door and threw it open, "Just let me out here!" she cried as she bolted from the cab, making a run for a large group of girls that were flagging her down.

Sides idled for a few seconds to watch Dea, concern not a good enough word at this point.

See, the typical morning for Dea was getting picked up in the morning by one of the various Transformers that occupied the base and had taken a liking to her. Then they'd reach the school, and Dea would have them slow down and roll her window down so all the other school kids could see her in the awesome car that drove her to school that day. Then she'd get out, blow a kiss to the hologram, then go up to Mikaela and the two would start gossiping about who Dea's new 'boy toy' was.

Apparently the two thought it was absolutely hilarious that Dea was being portrayed as a whore by the popular crowd, and they were playing off of that.

Dea glanced back at him and made a shooing motion with her hand, then turned back around with a big smile plastered on her face. She giggled at someone's joke, but for the life of her, Dea couldn't remember the blonde's name. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Sam, and inconspicuously slipped away from the pack of girls to jog over to her brother figure.

"Hey!" she waved, a bit out of breath from all the running she was doing, "Where's Mikaela?" Sam nodded his head toward the school.

"Bathroom. She was in a hurry this morning…" he frowned and shuffled his feet, and Dea cocked a brow. A sudden brain child was born, and Dea tried to wipe the grin from her face. She was failing miserably too…

Laughing, she clapped him on the shoulder, "You just made a rookie mistake! That's all." He sighed and rolled his eyes, "Future reference, don't say anything about how weird she looks without makeup."

He gave her a weak glare, "Gee… Thanks!"

The two exchanged a look and started laughing. She smiled and played with her iPod, sifting through her music absently. The male watched her for a few seconds then cleared his throat so she'd look up. When he had her attention, he wrapped her up in a big hug, picking her up off the ground and spinning her. Dea couldn't help but squeal and giggle as she was spun, stumbling slightly when he put her back down.

When her laughing subsided, she gave him a questioning look, "What was that for?"

"Whatever's wrong, you know I'm here for you right?" His look of worry gave a shock to her system. Mikaela came up beside her, "Hey you!" Sam said, giving his girlfriend a hug. Dea shook the feeling from her stomach and pulled Mikaela from Sam, like she always did, and into her own hug.

"She's MINE!"

Sam grinned, "Nu-uh she's MINE!" He grabbed her waist and yanked the brunette from Dea's hold, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Mikaela groaned, "Now don't start this again!" She gave Dea a whiny look, which was rightfully ignored as she was, yet again, yanked from one person to the other, "Oh come on!"

The warning bell signaled the end of Dea and Sam's torture, and – for once – Mikaela's savior. The three friends parted ways, Sam to math, Dea to science, and Mikaela to art. This would be the only class period that had apart, for this set of days anyway. The next set they had basically all classes together as well. (the two sets were oh so cleverly called A days and B days.)

Dea frowned and dragged herself and her backpack to her locket, emptying the books she wouldn't need and grabbed her science book, kicking her locker shut with the back of her foot as she shoved her bag into while running down the near empty hallway. She skidded to a halt, narrowly missing slamming her head into a corner, then started running again, "No no no no don't you do it!" she cried as she ran into the science wing, but the bell didn't listen, ringing the nanosecond before she opened the door.

The teacher turned and frowned, "Ah, Miss Barr so glad you could join us this fine day." He gave her the 'I won't be nice next time' look as she took her seat, and he quickly started the lesson.

She sighed, the scene playing before her similar to yesterday, and the day before, and the day before. The teachers are going 'blah blah blah' and the students are going 'blah blah blah' and neither is paying attention to the other, which results in a loud mesh of people 'blah blah blah-ing.' Dea lifted her head from her desk, giving the paper she'd been doodling on a fond look before shoving them into her binder.

With only five minutes left for class, they were allowed to talk and do whatever as long as they stayed away from the door. Which was amusing to Dea, as they already did whatever they wanted and stayed away from the doors. The red head leaned back in her chair, popping her back and drawing out her cell phone. She blinked and cocked her head when she noticed a new text message, "How did I not feel that?"

The brunette girl sitting next to her gave her a funny look, before turning away slowly to laugh at something her friend said – or at Dea, though she could really care less. Dea furrowed her brows at the number, trying to remember if it was one of the Autobots she hadn't added to her address book yet and clicked the button that would open the text. With her free hand, she scratched the side of her neck that was being tickled by a stray hair.

"What in the world?" she muttered under her breath, staring at the text. Dea closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, then opened her eyes again to see that _yes_ someone had indeed just sent her a text of just random letters and numbers. She had a brainstorm and decided she would forward it to Ratchet, "Papa will figure it out. And Bob's my uncle if he doesn't." Her head lifted as the bell rang, "Even though that doesn't quite make sense…" Picking up her backpack and slinging it over one shoulder, she entered the loud hallway and tried to make her way to her locker. She shoved past a group of jocks and yelled a loud excuse me to the group of skaters taking root in front of her locker, finally opening it with an angry sigh and eye roll.

She stripped off her jacket and shoved it, along with her backpack, into her locker, slamming it shut and giving the skaters a look, "NOW you can congregate in front of my locker." They rolled their eyes at her in unison, and she thought for a brief second about how they all probably thought that they were so different from the masses before weaving her way through the crowd to reach outside.

Stretching her arms up, she noted that she was getting a few looks – jacketless in February even in Nevada was a little weird – but she shrugged it off when she saw the yellow and black Camaro roll up. As the window rolled down, Bee's hologram pulled down its sunglasses, "Ready for lunch?" She opened the passenger door and slid in.

"To Taco Bell!" She cried, extending her right arm out the open window as she did. Bee's engine rumbled in laughter, and they pulled out of the parking lot – past Sam and Mikaela who were busy being lovey dovey on an outside table. Dea pursed her lips as she pulled her seat belt on, turning her body so she could pull her knees up to her body comfortably, "I really wish I didn't have to go back to school."

Bee turned to look at her, "Why? School seems like it would be fun."

"This coming from one of the intelligent beings from outer space that can download the freaking internet," Dea sighed, her head drooping slightly. Bee chuckled and pulled into the drive through for Taco Bell.

"The usual?"

"The usual."

As Bee idled, waiting for his turn to order, Dea played with the hem of her shirt, contemplating on whether her punishment for skipping out on her punishment would be worse than her original punishment. So far neither option seemed like a good idea, and just as she was about to join skipping out on her punishment for skipping out on her punishment to the party of options, Bee's hologram cleared his throat, and she snapped to attention.

She handed the guy at the window her money, then waited patiently, leaning over the hologram and trying to make it look like she wasn't going through him. The male handed her the food first, and she placed it in her lap as she got her change with her free hand – ignoring the strange look he kept giving the two of them. They pulled away from the window, and Dea cracked a smile, "I really think it would make more sense if I drove."

"No chance. I heard about what you did to Sideswipe." He said, glancing over at her warily.

She shrugged and took a bite of her food, "I was desperate. I don't normally go around hotwiring Autobots I haven't had the chance of terrorizing normally."

Bee glared over at her playfully and revved the engines as he pulled out into the street, "Oh? So you'd be more likely to hotwire the ones you already have?" She laughed and purposefully ignored his question as she opened her bag and began munching on her supposedly Mexican food. Bumblebee slowed for a moment, at a loss for words to go along with Dea's lack of them, but pulled up to normal speed when the old lady behind them began to honk her horn impatiently.

* * *

The rest of her day proceeded without _too_ much complaint. Sure, there was the instant in math when Dea got a different answer than the teacher and they argued over who was right for a half an hour. And the minor scrap in Spanish class when somebody said that the Spanish were stupid for making the word for penis so close to the word for comb – it was true, sure, but Dea would be damned if she let people insult half of what made her up. But now it was after school, and whatever happened that day was forgotten as she lumbered into the yellow twin known as Sunstreaker for the few minutes of peace she had left before dooms day.

"Dea are you alright?" Sunny asked as he drove out of the parking lot only to stop again as they waited for the traffic of then many driving teenagers to get up to speed. The red head undid the clips that were keeping her bangs out of her eyes and pulled her fingers through them. His hologram – a exact reverse of his brother's; blonde spiked fohawk with slightly red eyes – looked at her, but pushed his shades up before she could see him looking, "You know, I had to fight Sides for the privilege of driving you home," he chuckled, "It was between me, him, and Red Alert. We were both tempted to let _him_ go!"

She glanced away and snorted, unwillingly playing out the idea of Red Alert coming to pick her up from school, "Yeah, but knowing Sam he wouldn't recognize him and would have a heart attack because he'd think something was wrong with me!" Gripping her stomach as she tried to refrain from laughter, she now imagined Sam having a conniption fit in a hospital because she wasn't on the patient's list.

Sunny grinned, "Then we'd REALLY have to get Red Alert!" Dea couldn't contain herself, and leaned over the edge of her seat as her face split into a grin and laughter burst from her lungs, "Glad I could make you smile. Sides said you seemed a little weird this morning. Just our luck, Ratchet overheard and it took Optimus saying it might be an 'adolescent humanoid' thing before he let it go."

Pushing back some strands of hair, she sighed and snuggled into her seat, "Yeah, well you just made my day, so feel extra happy." She glanced over at the hologram with a slight grin, "An 'adolescent humanoid' thing huh? I should remember that in case my Tía Teresa tries to have another 'family talk time' with me." She snorted and leaned into the backseat to pull a water bottle from her back pack, taking a swig before dropping it into the cup holder by her left hand.

"Glad I'm glad I could make you smile, and make your day." His hologram grinned at the road as he merged into another lane, "I'm pretty good at multitasking for a mech!"

She smiled and twisted the cap of her water bottle loose, then shut again, and repeated the action as she spoke, "And how."

Sunny pulled into the driveway since Dea's dad wasn't home yet, and the engine cut, leaving the two in silence, the girl's hand poised on the door handle. Her eyes were boring holes into her front door as she considered skipping out on her punishment, and with a small tug, the door popped open, "Well I better get started on my chores so I can have lots of time to do my homework!" She stepped out and pulled her backpack on, "Later skater."

The yellow corvette's engine revved up, "_Later alligator_," he replied, the windows tinting as the hologram flickered away. She gave him a lazy wave, and watched him pull out of the drive way and turn right, heading for the Autobot base before she spun on her heel and jumped up the steps to stand in front of her door. She pulled her key from the other pocket and slipped it into the lock, turning it until she heard the lock click and opening the door.

"I'm home…" she called to the empty living room, dropping her backpack to the floor and ditching her shoes, not before tapping the front door once after she kicked it shut. She placed her shoes together and picked them up, rushing upstairs to her room. She had a good five hours before her dad would get home, and there were a few things that Dea wanted to get done that involved her father not being home. She pulled her phone from her back pocket and flipped it open, going through the names in her address book until she came upon the name she needed, "Ratchet…"

She pressed the call button and put the phone to her ear, grabbing a bag of chips as she listened the ringing. After a few chips were already in her mouth, there was a click and she could hear Ratchet's voice on the other line, "Hello?"

"Ratchet!" Dea exclaimed, losing some chips and causing her to blush a good red. She covered her mouth and chewed her food, then swallowed it and a drink of water before attempting to talk again, "Forget that ever happened."

There was a slight pause, as if the medic was wondering if he knew what he was supposed to be forgetting, which was confirmed by the confused tone in which he answered, "Okay?"

The red head nodded and chirped, "Okay! So the reason that I called you was that I got a really weird text message, and I had a random brain child that it might be some cool awesome computer code, so I wanted to see if you could use your amazing skills to DEcode it." She moved her hips from side to side as she waited, daring to munch on a few more chips.

He didn't answer at first, and she replayed what she said in her head in the case that she was speaking in super speak again, as it wouldn't have been the first time, and he needed a few seconds to slow it down and comprehend it, "I don't see why not."

Her face lit up in a smile and she did a mini tango dance around her kitchen, "Thanks! I'll show you tomorrow when I come." She could see the neon yellow mech vent his systems in a sigh, his shoulders and head drooping as he shook his head, one hand rubbing his temple.

"Alright then Dea."

On Ratchet's end, he heard the click of the line going dead, and heaved another sigh. Red Alert snickered lightly, and the medic turned to face his comrade, "Does something amuse you, Red Alert?"

The other waved his hand as if brushing away the unspoken dangerousness of the question, "I was just admiring how you've mellowed out since taking up the human girl's role of father." He gave the other a side glance, "Especially since there is no real need to. She has a father after all." Ratchet's hand hovered toward his wrench, "Just stating a fact."

"Yes, well that doesn't deem it necessary." Ratchet mumbled as he resumed fixing up the arm of new Autobot who'd crash landing had been a bad one.

Red Alert cleared his vocal processor and turned back around, "I suppose not."

Back on Dea's end however, things weren't as calm. A car door slammed signaling the arrival of her father, and Dea froze in her spot in the kitchen. He was home early. That wasn't a good sign. Dea shook herself from her daze and busied herself cleaning some of the dishes that were in the sink, not even checking to see if they were clean or dirty. She heard the front door open and click shut, followed by her father's image in the kitchen doorway.

"Dea." He said curtly, moving past her to the fridge, where he pulled out a beer and popped it open, chugging it as he undid his tie, "School?"

The red head scratched at something stubborn on a plate, replying nonchalantly, "Great. Work?"

"Fine. Dinner?"

"Steak."

This is what a conversation had become between her father and Dea. One word questions, one word answers. There were no stories to tell anymore, no 'Daddy let me sit on your lap!' and no 'I love you' anymore.

She relaxed when the television clicked on, the Spanish channel blaring back to her. Moving from the fridge, she grabbed a pack of steaks from the freezer, and put them in the empty side of the sink, running hot water over them to help with the defrosting process. She pushed some hair behind her ear and sighed.

It wasn't like she really minded the lack of contact anymore. It'd been happening for a while, even before her mother died. He'd been out of sorts then, and now…well now he was just gone. And Dea had stopped trying to catch up. It wasn't worth wasting her time trying to catch a ghost.

Plugging up the sink, the red head watched the water fill up slowly, then pulled herself away to grab some corn from the freezer, and a few potatoes from the fridge. Her hand slapped down on the faucet lever and the water cut off. Dea opened a drawer and grabbed the peeler, quickly working on removing the spuds of their skin.

In her father's eyes, she was no longer his daughter, but just something to be used to make his life easier. When her mother had first died, and this had all started, Dea had often fantasized about being a princess, or a damsel in distress, and some hot guy would come bursting into her house, 'slay' her father and steal her away into the night. But when that never happened, she gave up and resigned to her fate.

There was no prince to save her, no castle to flee to.

Because in reality, it hurt Dea to be this nameless face that she'd become. But to her, that was much better than not being needed. Aside from her, her father didn't have anyone else to take care of him.

She was all he had. Right?

* * *

Sam burst out into the sunshine, pumping his arms into the air as he stretched. Mikaela chuckled as she watched her boyfriend enjoy the outdoors before glancing around. She had just got out of History with Dea and Sam, and she could have sworn the three had been walking together, but… "Maybe she already left for Taco Bell." The brunette mumbled aloud to herself, causing the male to spin around to face her.

"What was that?" he asked, scratching his head and making his way back to her side. She slipped her arm through his and sighed, the two starting for their usual lunch table.

"I was just thinking that Dea must already be on her way to Taco—" she careened to a stop at the sight of the goldenrod Camaro, waiting patiently in the parking lot. Now, this wouldn't have been such a strange sight if Dea hadn't adopted a habit of going with Bee to Taco Bell everyday at lunch. And we're talking every day here. How she didn't get sick of it, Mikaela could never grasp. But nonetheless, there he was sitting patiently waiting for Dea to come bounding to his side demanding 'nourishment' if you could call fast food that, "Ah, well then maybe she's in the bathroom or something… I mean, there's no way she'd skip out on Taco Bell."

The brunette male nodded his head, not seeing the problem quite as clearly, or irrationally maybe, as his girlfriend was, "Yeah, it's like a religious 'Foodist' thing, or whatever she calls herself." Mikaela nodded, "Yeah, Foodists never skip out on Taco Bell for lunch. I mean… She'll be there." It seemed, though, that just talking to Mikaela about something going wrong made him think that something was wrong, and when he started to lead them over to Bee, she didn't seem to complain in the least.

"Hey!" Mikaela greeted the car, "Have you heard from Dea yet? Did she say she was going to be late, or in the bathroom or…" she trailed off, rotating her wrist as she tried to think like Dea and come up with something that would keep the red head's attention off of Taco Bell, "Or she was going to stalk some uber hottie…? Anything like that?"

Bee's engine revved in a displeased tone, _"She's not in the school building anymore."_ Sam took a moment to choke on his spit, _"Her father took her as the three of you were leaving the classroom."_ Mikaela blinked, and shifted her weight onto her foot.

"Oh, well if it's her dad, then there's nothing to be worried about! Right?" Mikaela chirped. Bee didn't respond, so the female pressed on, "Right?"

The Camaro roared to life and popped open it's doors, _"Maybe we should go for a drive…"_Sam was about to protest about school, but then decided against it and pulled himself into the passenger seat, Mikaela sitting herself in the front with a dominating air. She wasn't liking where this was going. Clicking her seatbelt on, the car roared to life and backed out of his parking spot – gaining a few angry honks from other driving teens trying to escape the lot – peeling out onto the road at a high speed.

"_It seems that ever since a confrontation with Dea's father early yesterday when Sideswipe came to pick her up, Dea has been acting strangely."_ Bee took a sharp right, and Mikaela winced when she was thrown against the door, _"I have suspicions that with Dea's father isn't the safest place she could be right now…"_ The couple exchanged worried glances. The brunettes looked at the speedometer on the dash.

Mikaela frowned and drew her brows down, "You know where she is right?"

"_Affirmative. We're heading to Dea's location now."_ Bumblebee replied curtly. She nodded and glanced out the window.

"Think you can get away with going faster?"

Bee didn't answer at first, but before Mikaela could repeat herself, the Camaro revved and switched gears, making her lean back slightly from the force, _"I thought you'd never ask."_ Tires squealed as they sped around a corner and through quite a few red lights, finally slowing down when they saw the familiar surroundings of the suburbs Dea and Sam lived in. They idled themselves down the street, and stopped a few houses down, Mikaela leaning forward in her seat when her eyes caught sight of Dea resisting a painful looking tight hold on her upper arm.

By none other than her father.

"Bee, can you amplify the sound of their voices so we can hear what their saying without blowing out cover?" the female asked, leaning down. Bumblebee tinted the windows and pulled back a bit.

"_Of course. It will take me a few—"_

"Let GO I said!" Dea's voice rang from the stereo, the fear in her voice registering to the two clearly. They saw the smack before they heard it, and Sam closed his eyes and turned away from the sight of Dea's free hand reaching up to hold her reddening cheek.

Her father scowled at her, looking as if she was devil spawn, "You insolent girl! Don't defy me." His voice took on a dangerous tone, and Dea tried again to pull herself free, "Get in the house. Now."

The redhead, however, paid no heed to the tone and continued to try and pry her arm from her father's grip, "NO! I didn't do anything this time! Why are you doing this?" She was pulled forward, and fell to the ground when he finally released her arm. She winced and looked down at her scraped palms, before remembering her situation and tried to scramble away from him.

With quick movement, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her up, ignoring her yelp of pain, "You didn't do anything? Don't make me sick!" He threw her towards the house, and Dea stumbled but remained standing, "Everything that's ever been wrong in my life has been because of you!" Dea, who was now out of their view because of the neighbor's tree, made a surprised noise when her father started toward the house, "In, now!"

Mikaela tapped repeatedly on the steering wheel, "Scoot! Scoot scoot scoot up!" Bee obliged happily, and pulled forward until the girl was in view again. She was once again being herded toward the house, her father gripping her upper arm like she was some criminal. Of course, Sam supposed, in his eyes she probably was…

They waited a few minutes after the door had closed to pull up closer to the house again. Mikaela got herself out and stared with painfully sad eyes at the house. She wanted to run up and barge in, but what could she do to help? She didn't think she and Sam could take him, and Bee would make too much of a ruckus. But…Dea could handle herself right? _I didn't do anything…this time?_ Mikaela hugged herself at the thought of this happening to her friend on a daily basis.

Sam touched her shoulder, and she pulled herself into his arms, "Sam…Isn't there something we can do?" Covering her mouth with one hand, and pressing her face into her boyfriend's shoulder, she couldn't see the furious glare on his face, "Can all we do is sit here and wait this time?"

"Yeah."

The anger he was feeling, the spitefulness he was feeling, the hopelessness… all seeped out into that one word, and with a hiccup, Mikaela started to cry…

* * *

Sam didn't know how much later it was when Dea reappeared in the front yard. Bruised, and in some places bloody, she stumbled out onto the porch, catching herself on the side of the house before she fell. She looked around the street, her eyes widening when she recognized the familiar yellow Camaro and the two humans sitting inside him. He nudged Mikaela awake, and the two brunettes rushed out to their friend, "Dea! Are you alright?"

Mikaela wrapped her up in a hug, but Dea didn't seem to notice. She pushed the other girl off her and started down the steps, grabbing onto Sam's shoulder when her knees gave out on her, "Hey!" he said as he caught her, lifting her up bridal style. Jerking his head to the Camaro, his girlfriend nodded and ran to get the back ready for Dea to sit in. Sam joined her and situated Dea in the back of the Camaro, using his jacket as a pillow for her head.

Slipping themselves into the front seats, Sam addressed Bee with a serious tone, "We need to go to the base. Now." Bee peeled out instantly, already ready to go once he saw the condition Dea was in. Dea groaned lightly and pulled herself up until the two of them noticed. Sam turned around as he clicked on his seat belt, "Lay back. I'm not taking no for an answer. You have no say this time so it's best to just listen to me."

She shook her head and reached her arm out until she grasped onto Mikaela's shirt sleeve, "Don't…tell anyone… what you saw."

"Dea that's ridiculous. You're dad is—" Mikaela started, but Dea cut her off by yanking on her sleeve. She gave Dea a scowl, but the red head glared right back, "This is so stupid. Why are you protecting him?"

Dea lowered her gaze, but didn't detour from the subject at hand, "Promise…"

"Dea—"

"PROMISE!" she shouted, regretting it instantaneously when her chest flared up in pain and she fell back with a moan, her breathing heavy. Mikaela's breath caught in her throat. Dea took a moment to catch her lost breath, then repeated once again, "Promise."

Mikaela turned away from her friend, her brow drawn down and her expression pained, "Fine… Fine! I promise. We won't tell…" Silence filled the voice, the only sound was Dea's breathing returning to normal. After that, they drove on – Bee picking up speed after the quarrel was over – the lack of sound basically deafening.

Finally Dea spoke again, her voice quiet and startling the other teens, "I'm sorry you had to see that." She opened and closed her fists, "I would have preferred if you didn't know about it. It makes things a lot easier for me."

"When did it start?" Sam asked, not looking away from the road. The sun was starting to set, and he had yet to call home, not to mention skipping class. He was so grounded, but could really care less in light of the current situation.

Dea ran a hand through her matted hair, wincing when her fingers tore through the knots, "A little while after my mom died. He never used to be like this… But…" Not knowing what to do with herself, she picked at the dirt under her nails, "You know, my mom and I wouldn't have gone to downtown if I hadn't persuaded her to come shopping with me." Mikaela turned to look out the window as she listened, propping her elbow on the door and her face in her palm.

"I think that's why he's so angry with me…" Dea continued, "He feels like it's my fault, and in a way he's right. Sure, it's not like I pushed her into it or anything like that… I was just the only reason we were there." She laced her fingers together and sighed, "So no matter how much it hurts… I think he's justified." She looked down at her lap and could feel their eyes on her.

"Dea, that's a sad way of looking at something like that. You're dad may not have always been like this, but he is now and if he's going to take something that was a one in a million chance thing out on you, then I think he's sick," Mikaela snapped, her voice hardened with anger, "I don't want to hear anymore about it until we get to the base… And maybe not even then…" She sighed and rolled down the window, letting fresh air into the cab, "I just don't know what to think right now."

Smiling slightly, the red head settled herself in, watching the sun dipped below the horizon as the surroundings flashed past them in a blur, "That's understandable… I'm… I'm still sorry."

"I know… So are we," Sam replied, glancing back at her with a comforting smile, "We love you, and just don't like seeing you get hurt. Okay?"

Dea paused and studied Sam's expression, "Okay."

* * *

A frown encompassed, not only Ratchet's, but Optimus's face as well as the two looked upon Dea's face. Or more precisely, the black swelling bruise that surrounded the female's right eye, "Would you believe me if I told you some chump tried to jack my money?" When the medic's engine revved lowly, she knew that this was a time for honest explanation and not beating around the bush.

However, the red head smiled and scratched the top of her head, making herself believe her words so Ratchet couldn't peg her for lying to him. If she believed it to be true, it was true in her eyes, "Alright, so I might have started a fight with a prep girl at school today… No big deal! Totally kicked her ass," she turned on her heel and was about to head toward the mess hall when the medic's large hand scooped her up.

"I don't think so, Dea. I'm going to give you a scan and see what else is damaged," Ratchet explained firmly, telling her there was no room for debate. He would scan with or without consent of the other party. Dea had been smart enough to borrow Sam's jacket to cover up the marks on her arms, and the ones they assumed were on her legs were covered by her pants. The only thing they couldn't cover up were the scratches and bruises on her face.

Her right eye was swollen and black, her bottom lip was sliced down the middle, and the upper on the right side. There were a few deep gashes mixed in with smaller ones at a diagonal angle from her left eye to her jaw bone.

Mikaela had absently wondered how Dea had been able to cover up the marks so well, since the girl never missed a day of school. And if this happened on a regular basis like she thought it did, that meant Dea must be a ninja make up wizard. She frowned and rubbed at her arm absently. Sam and herself had sworn themselves to silence, figuring that if Ratchet asked them about it, if they didn't say anything, then there was no way he could peg them for lying.

At least that was their general idea, but staying quiet on the subject was becoming more and more difficult as Ratchet scanned Dea's form. An angry rumble came from the medic's vocal processor, and the couple looked worriedly at each other. It was time to test their theory. The grumpy mech looked down at Dea in his hand, "You're situation, and unwillingness to tell me what really happened – because I know you're lying Dea – can only suggest one thing, and I don't really like that idea very much." She swallowed the spit her nervousness had created, and tried to smile up at him.

"And that is?" her voice managed to remain at it's normal perkiness, and Ratchet had to perform another scan to double check that Dea was in fact nervous.

Instead of answering Dea, he turned to the couple and asked them simply, "What happened to Dea?" Sam and Mikaela glanced away, their theory in their minds; if they didn't say anything he wouldn't know they were lying.

Of course, they didn't factor in that he'd figure out they were covering for her, "It's as I thought then. Dea my findings indicate that you're being physically and mentally tortured on an almost regular basis. I'm not sure how my initial scans of you missed such damage to your body, but nevertheless I think it'd be best if you were to stay in the base until we can apprehend the person doing this to—"

"NO!"

Dea's scream of protest not only surprised the medic, but Dea herself as well. Her hand flew to cover her mouth and tears started to build up at the corners of her eyes, "Dea?" Ratchet prompted warily, "Who is the one abusing you?" He frowned when she clamped her mouth shut, inwardly cursing herself for her outburst. Wasn't being saved what she'd always wanted? Why was she acting like this? "If he's someone you know, then we won't turn him in to the authorities, we'll just remove you from the surroundings."

"Oh GEE!" the female drawled, "You won't turn him in, thaaanks. That makes me feel so much better! You don't get it Ratchet!" Her temper was flaring up, and no amount of breathing was going to calm her down. Every breath she took just added to the flame of anger she was building within her heart, and it wouldn't go out until it was done burning everything around her to a crisp, "YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL!"

Ratchet's temper rose up in response, but his calmer and a lot more concentrated, "You're right. I don't understand, but why don't you try to explain it to me first before you start irrationally yelling at me?" She flinched from the hidden venom. The medic had never spoken to her this way. Even when he was reprimanding her for something she (and the twins sometimes) had done, it was with an undertone of love. He was doing it because he cared, but this…

"I'm all he has! No one else can stand him now, but I'm used to it! I know how to deal with his moods, I know how to—"

He interrupted her with a burst of yelling, "DEAL WITH HIS MOODS? THIS is how you DEAL with his moods?" He glared down at her in his hand, and her eyes grew wide again, allowing a few fresh tears freedom, "Well I must say you're not doing a very good job of it."

Ratchet made a noise in his throat when something about Dea's demeanor changed. She drew her hands up under her chin, and her knees bent inward slightly, and kept doing so until she slipped into a sitting position on his hand, with her feet on either side of her butt, "Daddy…" she hiccupped, but Ratchet didn't make any movements, something telling the mech she wasn't referring to him this time, "Why doesn't Daddy love Deeja anymore? Mommy loves Deeja, she doesn't blame Deeja… so why? Why does Daddy not love her?"

Sam's brow creased with confusion written clearly on his face, his girlfriend's a mirror image of his own, "Who's Deeja?" Mikaela pursed her lips, and scratched her neck in thought.

"Do you think Dea has multiple personality disorder or something?" she pondered, and Ratchet looked down at her, wondering the exact same thing. Deciding on something, she flagged Ratchet down, "Beam me up Scotty!" Sam mouthed 'Star Trek?' with a dorky smile as Ratchet lowered his other hand for Mikaela to clamber up on. Bringing the two girls to the same level, Mikaela approached the crying 'Deeja' with caution, "Hi…"

She looked up, and wiped at her tears, trying to look a little more presentable to the female, "Um.. Hi…" As the younger sounding girl tried to keep herself from crying, she worked her lower jaw side to side before speaking again, "I'm Deeja."

"I'm Mikaela. Do you know me?" Deeja shook her head and the brunette looked up at Ratchet's face, "I think I'm right… Deeja," Mikaela looked back at the girl who was supposed to be her best friend, '"Are there others like you?"

"Un! There's Dea too. And Miss Bossy. She's mean to Deeja all the time." Her eyes filled with sadness, "But Dea doesn't feel like talking to anybody right now, she's not feeling well… So Deeja let Dea rest." Mikaela frowned, wondering how her friend had hidden such a strange quirk from her. Then she remembered the other secret Dea had been keeping and wasn't so surprised. She muffled her bitterness over the subject with another question.

"Is Dea aware you exist Deeja?" she inquired slowly as she lowered herself closer to the body of her best friend, "Does Dea know you take over sometimes?" Deeja nodded a few times in rapid succession. Mikaela heard Ratchet exhale deeply and mumble about how this would explain a few things. The brunette jerked her head to get the medic's attention.

When he lowered his head to indicate he was listening, Mikaela smiled to Deeja – as if addressing them both – "Maybe Sideswipe should take Deeja somewhere quiet. To let Dea calm down so she can come out and talk to us about this. Okay?" Ratchet caught on to the drift and opened up a private conversation link to said red Corvette.

'Sideswipe, as much as I hate to say this, I need your help with Dea. It appears she has multiple personalities, and we need you to take her someplace quiet until Dea is ready to take control of her mind again.'

There was no answer at first, then smothered laughter, followed by a loud smack and Sunny's yelp of pain. Finally the medic heard Sides speak, 'Yeah, no problem. I'm in the general area, so I'll hurry over.' Obviously, the Corvette twins had been stalking out the med bay in secret, worry for their trouble making human partner. The proof to that statement was the twins entering the room not a few seconds after Ratchet had called him.

Sides rubbed his arm and ducked his face away from the smug looking Ratchet, "So where should I take her?" he addressed the question to Mikaela and Sam as a way to keep his head down. Ratchet simply crossed his arms and let his smile grow at Sideswipe's awkwardness that was so very rarely seen. The red Corvette was _never_ timid like he was being now.

Sam spoke up immediately, "She likes to go to the lookout. Take her there." Mikaela smiled at her boyfriend, and he offered her a smile back, but both set of eyes were watching as Deeja was picked up by Sides and carried out of the med bay.

He set her down on the ground when they reached the outside and transformed, then popped open a door so she could climb into the passenger seat. When the door clicked shut, he waited until her seat belt was fastened before taking off down the road, the dust his tires kicked up forming a cloud that trailed behind them. Sideswipe didn't speak to her all through the trip there, and Deeja seemed to be content with the silence – sitting Indian-style in the seat, picking at the dirt under her nails and humming a children's song to herself.

It wasn't until he had pulled up to the lookout and the engine cut out that he spoke to her, "_Dea, er…Deeja… I know Dea doesn't want to talk to anyone right now, but can you just tell her what I have to say?_" He waited patiently until the small female nodded her head and shifted so that she was facing toward the driver's seat, "_I know that you think that none of us could possibly understand how you feel; about being all that somebody has and not being able to leave them alone… But Dea… I know what it's like. Not being able to leave someone because they need you._" He paused then, to let the transfer of words occur, or maybe just to gather his thoughts.

"_Yeah, I maybe an Autobot, so I have all the others to lean on and to help me through things and such – just like having a family really – but in all reality, all I have is Sunstreaker. No one else comes close to the bond him and I share. I wouldn't be able to leave him alone to die or anything like that. And he couldn't leave me. It's the same way with a lot of us. We all have that one person that we can't abandon under any circumstance. Even if it means dying ourselves."_ Deeja's eyes drooped in sadness, and he was about to continue when her small meek voice cut him off.

"Sides…"

The Corvette let out a rev of his engine, in happiness and relief, at hearing Dea's voice and not that of the small child anymore, "_Dea, we DO understand. So don't be mad, don't be angry… Just try to understand where we're coming from… Even we realize that sometimes leaving is for the best. But that's not saying that if the time came for us to choose dying together or surviving alone, we would always choose to be with that other person."_

She pulled her face into her lap, hunching over in the passenger seat and shaking slightly. He heard the sniffling and knew that she had started to cry, "I know… I know I should but… I'm… I'm all he has! He's my dad and I'm all he has!" Her sobbing increased, and Sideswipe silenced his rebuttal. For know, just being here with her was the best he could do to help her. And so, he flicked on the radio, turning it up until Dea's sobs were drowned out.

If there was one thing he knew about Dea, it was that she didn't like to appear weak. So he would turn a blind eye to her outburst, and her crying, and he would pretend it never happened. If not for her sake, then for the sake of knowing that only one Autobot had the words that would soothe the red head's discomfort, and knowing that there was no way of him coming to her rescue again.

* * *

Dea snorted in her sleep, then rolled over to smack her alarm clock. Her brow furrowed when that action didn't make the noise she was hearing desist. Her eyes blinked open, and she looked at her room through a film of bangs as she tried desperately to start her brain up so she could identify the noise. As she did, the noise started to get louder, and as the seconds dragged on, it got louder still until Dea finally lurched forward – flinging the comforter off in the process – and leapt for her phone that was sitting on her desk.

Slightly breathless from the sudden action, and still mostly groggy, she wasn't surprised by her scratchy voice, "Hello?"

"Have you left for school yet?"

The red head's eyes flickered with recognition at the cold indifferent sounding voice, "No. Not yet."

Her father made a noise in the back of his throat, "Ah, well I'm just calling to tell you that I'll be gone starting tomorrow on a business trip."

"Ah, okay."

She heard the click of the phone line dying, and she pulled her phone away from her ear to stare at it in confusion. A business trip? Why would her dad—

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Dea jumped and shrieked, whipping around with wide eyes to stare at her alarm clock that had just gone off. She crawled over and turned it off, then pulled herself out of bed to get ready for school.

She turned on her music as usual, opting for a lower volume that usual because of her nit picky neighbor. She fixed herself a bowl of cereal today, some chocolate puff balls Sam had insisted she tried sometime before she died. Munching on the food provided her with some distraction, but soon she was finished, dressed and ready to go less than an hour before one of the Autobots would show up to take her to school.

Huffing, she sat down on the couch and flipped her phone out, texting a few of her random class friends – asking stupid questions like if they were ready for the torture chamber, and how many brain cells they killed over the homework. She received a lot of 'lols' and quite a number of 'omg I know lyke im ttly dying!' answers, but Dea replied to each enthusiastically and with the same low level of grammar.

The red head was quite proud of being good at adapting to situations with a small amount of shock factor affecting her.

Before she knew it, she heard the familiar honking of the goldenrod-ish colored Camaro, which meant that she'd be riding with Mikaela and Sam to school this morning. She slung her backpack onto her shoulders and rushed out the door, locked it, and bolted for the car, making a show of sliding onto the passenger side via Bumblebee's hood. 'Satan's Camaro' revved his engine unhappily at Dea's show, but the two humans chortled with enthusiasm.

Mikaela exited the car long enough to let Dea in, and soon they were speeding down the road to school.

Sam paused in his ramblings of his uneventful night to nudge Dea's knee, "Hey, you okay? You look like a space cadet." Dea snorted, and Mikaela turned to the window with a smile, "What?"

"You're one to talk Mr. Captain Space Case," Dea explained, and the females – along with Bee – shared a laugh at the male brunette's expense.

He frowned and huffed, turning back to the road with a pouting face, "Yeah, yeah, yuck it up you three."

Dea giggled, and the three humans slipped into a peaceful conversation. Dea was still paranoid about the business trip her father had told her about, but suspicion was put aside and the red head opted for a peaceful day at school. Well, as peaceful as school can be anyway.

Her two friends were doing a good job at ignoring the events that had transpired the day before, and Dea appreciated that. It meant that nothing had changed. Although their knowledge did create unnecessary worry on her friend's part, Dea was still glad that there was one less secret that she would have to hid from the people who had become her adoptive family.

When the school came into sight, there was a collective groan from the three teenagers, followed by a low chuckle on Bee's part. Laughing quietly to herself as she emerged from the back of the Camaro, she marveled at the ordinary display of displeasure. It was really as if nothing had changed.

However, in reality something had.

In that one moment of weakness, in just admitting to herself that she shouldn't stay with her father because of who he'd become, she had set in motion the wheels of rebellion. It was just simple thoughts like, 'What if I didn't come home tonight?' and 'Would he worry about me if I stayed out past curfew?' No elaborate plans, no solidity to her thoughts. Just passing glimpses of what could be.

The 'what if's…' continued to plague her as the day drew on, Sam finally snapping her out of her self induced daze by dangling a chalupa from Taco Bell in front of her face.

She pulled her head back, her eyes growing a little wider and tried to focus on the object suddenly obscuring her vision, "Uhh…" Her brain began to process the item, and as the brain child was born, Dea squeaked in glee and grabbed at the food, "Chalupa!" Mikaela laughed and took a bite of her nachos, while Sam leaned back onto Bee's hood with his own chalupa.

Dea blinked and took a moment while she chewed to register her surroundings. Sometime between 'what if he doesn't even know I'm gone?' and 'what if he moves on once I leave?' her feet had made their way to the passenger side of Bumblebee's interior. She finished off the wanna-be Mexican food with ease, rubbing her stomach and silently wishing for another one. Sam handed her a Mountain Dew instead, which she readily took a few large gulps from.

"So what is the plan for after school?" Mikaela asked, only halfway through her taco.

The red head pursed her lips, "For the time being, I need to lay low." Sam cocked his head to the side, so she continued, "No going to the base for a while unless it's a dire necessity." The two brunettes nodded in understanding, and the silence resumed it's place over the three teens heads. Finally, right before the late bell rang, Bumblebee broke the silence, calling out to Dea.

"_Do you still want Ratchet to decode that message you received?"_

Sam and Mikaela exchanged confused looks, while Dea shook her head, replying with an affirmative answer despite the movement, "Yeah, just not right now though…. It can wait. Not like the text is really going anywhere."

"_Very well. I'll inform Ratchet."_ Bee said, in a conversation ending sort of way. Dea nodded, then turned herself back around, leading her two friends to their classroom while she talked adamantly about the homework and how easy it was, completely missing the death glare Sam was playfully giving her.

As Mikaela took a seat in the back next to Sam, and Dea in the middle as per her assigned seat, the female whispered to her boyfriend, "Dea seems to be in a better mood."

Sam laughed, "Isn't she always after she eats?"

"Fair enough."

* * *

The maple door that stood before her seemed to tease her with its promise of escape, and as the form of her father slipped in her view and glared at her, "Thinking of going somewhere?" She shook her head and returned her attention to the computer screen of her laptop. Having just uncovered the thing from the remnants of what had been their shed, she was busy cleaning out the system of useless junk.

Her eyes flicked down to her thigh when she felt her side vibrate from her phone. Her stomach dropped, and she returned her attention to her computer, "Dad can you stir the sauce until I can get in there?" She heard her father grunt and move away from the door after a few minutes, followed by the sound of the spoon banging against the side of the pot.

She picked up her laptop and set it aside, standing and moving around the couch to make her way into the kitchen. Taking her father's place at the stove, she gave the tomato sauce a few stirs before removing it from the heat. She added it to a large pot of noodles and meat, and then stirred the mixtures. Dea blew a chunk of her hair out of her eyes as she opened up the cupboard to grab two plates.

As she dished out a serving of spaghetti for her father and two for herself since she didn't eat lunch that day, Dea frowned as she heard her phone buzzing again on the couch. Tossing the salad once before putting some on her father's plate, she grabbed two pieces of bread and walked into the dining room, "Do you want milk to drink Father?"

"No, get me a scotch on the rocks." He grumbled, picking up the fork she placed before him and began eating the noodles. Her smile dropped once she turned, and she tried to suppress a shiver as she reached for one of the bottles on a shelf above the sink. She reached into the cabinet next to her and pulled out a large but short glass, opening the freezer long enough to grab some ice. She poured the amber liquid into the glass and brought it back to her dad. He grunted his thanks, and Dea returned to the kitchen to finish getting her meal ready.

As she sat in the seat across from her father, he looked up at her, "Homework?"

"Finished. Work?" Dea asked back.

"Fine."

She nodded and went back to her food, munching on her salad that she had just drowned in ranch. Once her plate was clean, she stood and dumped her dishes into the sink, turning on the faucet so the plate could get a quick prewash. Her father came beside her and did the same, and Dea made her way to the couch again. Grabbing her cell phone and pocketing it, and closing her laptop and tucking it under her arm, Dea made her way up the stairs to hide in her room.

Her door clicked shut behind her, and the laptop was thrown carelessly onto the bed, followed by Dea falling beside it. It was too easy. She could leave once he went into his office and he'd never notice until tomorrow when he didn't have a lunch. Dea could be quiet, she had to be when he was in one of his moods, and she could just slip out and call Bee. He could come and pick her up and she'd never have to see this house ever again.

Never have to deal with her father's outbursts of anger, or the random moments when he tried to be her father again. The tensed conversation or the fake smiles, none of it! She could have a peaceful life finally, with Ratchet and Optimus, Bee, Sides and Sunny. No more worrying about any of that.

Dea lifted her head to stare at the door, then groaned and let it fall back onto her pillow.

And yet… Something was telling her not to. Something in her gut was telling her _Not yet. We're not ready. Soon, but not now._ The red head pulled herself up, grabbing the sweats from the edge of her bed and exchanging them for her pants. Flinging back the covers, she crawled into bed and opened her laptop.

For now, she would listen, and she would wait. But Dea could feel the restlessness that had been growing in her since the day she met Sam and Mikaela. There was something she felt she needed to do, and as she rubbed her left arm with a frown, she knew that her place was no longer here in this house.

But she would wait.

She had to wait.

Remembering the texts, she removed her cell phone from her pocket – already anticipating one of the texts – and flipped it open. One from Sam reading "Spanish homework, si? No?" to which she replied a quick, "Cha." The other was from her mystery number, who Ratchet - nor any of the Autobots – couldn't figure out the identity of. Letters and numbers had removed themselves, like they had the three days before this. Now she could slightly make out some of what was said.

Random stuff, need, more random stuff, and her name.

Dea frowned and closed the phone, then rolled her eyes as it buzzed right after. Opening it back up, she smirked when she read the text from Sam. He had put a smiley face and that text version of the heart, with the pointy doohickey and the three, and after two of those had put, "Can I borrow? Date with Mikaela, no time."

"You think she'd want him to pass his classes so he doesn't get grounded… And yet here this is. Again," the red head laughed to herself and replied that she'd give it to him tomorrow morning. Her face dropped and she erased what was written, exchanging it for, "Yeah, I'll give it to you at lunch." She closed the phone and plugged it into the charger, turning back to the open laptop sitting on her lap.

However, all her drive to revamping the device had fled from her, and with a defeated sigh, she closed it and set it on her nightstand next to her alarm clock, which she turned on since her hand was already over there. Snuggling under her covers, she clicked her lamp light off and closed her eyes, fighting to clear her mind so she could sleep.

See, Dea had just formulated a plan. A plan to find out what her father was really going to do. He worked in a cubicle; her father was a nobody in the company. Not somebody's go to guy or the business trip kind. And there was no way he got promoted without her knowledge, because she was the one who did his financial business, like her mother had done before her.

And tomorrow morning, bright and early…

She would act.

* * *

It was quite easy to just skip. Easier than Dea had expected it to be.

Really, all she had to do was have Ratchet call her in, saying that she needed him to do it because her dad was already gone and she didn't want to bother him, for fear of making him mad. The possibility of abuse gave him enough incentive to do it. Then she just had to wait for her father to drive off, get the keys for the other car – the one that had been her mother's that they'd yet to get rid off – and follow.

Hence, Dea was excused from school and in hot pursuit of her father. She frowned, one hand on the steering wheel, and the other picking at a corner of her wallet that she had thrown into the cup holder. She spared a glance at her surroundings – suburbs similar to her own new neighborhood – before flicking her gaze back to the silver Honda Civic her father drove. From the looks of it, Dea's hunch had been right and this was in no way, shape, or form a business trip.

Finding out what was really going on was going to take more observation, and so to calm her nerves, Dea turned the radio on low to the local country station, not really paying attention, but still managing to sing along to some of the songs. Finally he made a right, and Dea slowed severely before mimicking his movements, turning down the street that led into a sort of gated community, just without the gate.

Her frowned deepened when he made a left, and then turned left again into a drive way. She parked on a nearby corner, far enough away so as not to cause worry. Slouching down in her seat to further hide herself from view, Dea watched as her father got out of the car with a large grin encompassing his face. Her heart dropped when a woman came out from the house he'd parked in front of with a little boy (seven or eight at the most) situated on her hip.

At the sight of the man, the little boy began to squirm until his mother set him down on the front porch, from which he leapt up into Dea's father's arm. She could feel her heart sinking as he greeted the woman with a kiss and entered the house.

Even after the door was closed, Dea remained immobile. Frozen with fear as this knew knowledge wormed its way into previous circumstances with her father, making things that didn't make sense suddenly clear. She felt like she'd just been punched in the gut as all the air flew from her lungs. It was irrational to hyperventilate, to react like she was. The red head could have seen this coming from a mile away; had she chosen to accept the possibility that she wasn't the only person in her father's life.

Suddenly the 'what if's…' she'd been toying with the day before sprung back to life, one in particular sticking out in her mind.

What if he doesn't need me?

Dea pinched the bridge of her nose and curled herself up into a ball, rocking back and forth as her brain tried to slow things down enough to comprehend. That was turning out to be a lot harder than it needed too, but the petite girl did at least realize one thing.

Apparently he didn't need her.

Within a second, she flipped open her phone and called the one person she wanted to talk to – her cousin Veronica. Out of all her family members on her dad's side, Veronica was the only one who truly loved her unconditionally. Even when she cut the other girl's hair into the most horrible style ever because she was jealous of Veronica's long silky hair. The other Spanish female had never said a cruel word about the red head to this day.

After a few rings, there was a click and a groggy female voice mumbling, "'llo?"

"Roni?" Dea whispered, not sure why she was doing so.

The alertness of the girl on the other end rose when she recognized the tone in Dea's voice as fear, "Dea? What's wrong? Where are you? Are you hurt?"

Dea thought over her possible answers, finally murmuring, "Mhm… I'm hurt… I'm really hurt. Will you come stay with me tonight?"

Roni took up a gentle mothering tone to address the whimpering rosette with, "Yeah, sure hon. I'll be over in about an hour or two, okay? We'll make cake."

On any other occasion, Dea would have been fine with a sleep over and cake. However, there was something much more important that Dea wanted to do tonight. And that would require help from not just Roni, but all the new friends she had made, "No… actually, I have something else in mind… Ready for the craziest story you'll never believe is true?"

* * *

It would appear from the outside of the house, as the light illuminating from the windows went out one by one, that the Barr house hold was settling down to sleep. This theory would be true, were it not for the black Topkick parked out front, and the line of bodies silently loading boxes from the house into the back. The bodies included William Lennox, Sam, Mikaela, Veronica and Dea. Sam emerged from the house, the last of Dea's things in the box held in his arms, and nodded to Dea, who took her key from her pocket and locked the door. After slipping the key into the mailbox, she closed her eyes and turned from the door – not stopping when Mikaela opened her arms to hug her – and headed to the yellow Camaro parked on the street.

Inside the house the waning moonlight shone into what had been Dea's room – the walls, closet, and dressers bare, her bed made up with simple spare sheets from the downstairs closet. The only thing left sat on the dresser, a picture in a plain wooden frame of a woman with dark skin and hair, her eyes a light mahogany color. Dea had stared at that picture for so long. Even as her friends entered her room and stood behind her, waiting for what she had to say, she stood silently. It had always confused her, how such a fair skinned girl like herself with such brilliantly red hair and green eyes, had come of two dark skinned, dark haired, dark eyed people.

Veronica had grasped her elbow, and pulled the red head away from the picture – taking her downstairs to help with removing any picture with her in it from the living room. Their objective was to make it look as if a Dea Barr had never lived in this house. As if Dea Barr had never existed. She'd convinced herself that her father wouldn't care. He had his secret family to take care of; her leaving would be a gift to him. An early Father's Day present or something.

The two cars started their engines; Dea, Sam and Mikaela riding in Bumblebee, and Veronica with Will in Ironhide. Bee made the first move, pulling away from the curb by which he'd parked, and in the rearview mirror, Dea could see Ironhide pulling out of her driveway. Or what had been her driveway. The only person that house belonged to know was Daniel Lopez Barr.

She felt strange. She didn't want to cry, or scream. She didn't want to be comforted, or pitied. She just wanted to get away. Bringing her fist up to her mouth, Dea bit down on her knuckle as she watched the image of the house in Bumblebee's side mirror grow smaller. She closed her eyes, a slight jab in her heart causing her pain. Typically she wouldn't have believed such a thing as heartache couldn't really happen, and that it was just a way to express an emotion, but as she listened to Bee's engine and Sam trying to keep things normal by rambling about space zombies eating their principal's brain – the only way he could explain the sudden crack down on PDA – she could feel the growing emptiness taking hold of her.

Sam turned from the road, the steering wheel turning in his loosely held hands, to look at Dea. Worry was etched onto his facial expressions, but Dea had to hand it to him as she could see how badly he was trying to hide it from her, "So, now that you're technically a free woman…What's the first thing you plan on doing?" She gave the question some thought, wondering absently if finishing school was imperative for her life as an adult. Once she decided it was, she turned away from him so he could only barely see her smile.

"Why, my dear Sam. I intend to rob a bank, and you two shall be my cohorts!" she laughed in an evil manner – comically so, but still evil nonetheless – and held the back of her hand to cover her mouth. Sam stared at her for a few seconds, then slipped perfectly into the role of the grotesque henchman, like the hunchback guy from Frankenstein.

Chuckling to himself, he rubbed his hands over the other in a stereotypical evil manner, "Yes, Misssstresss…" he answered, hissing like a snake for added effect, "We shallsss halp yoooou!"

The girls exchanged a look, questioning him in perfect unison only manageable by girls, "Halp?" Mikaela gave a short laugh, then asked Dea with a flurry of hand gestures, "Can I halp you?"

"Why YES! Can you halp me get these bags to my room?" Dea answered, with a sophisticated British accent. The two then proceeded to laugh hysterically, while Sam busied himself with sulking and pretending to drive the Camaro. As silence resettled in the inside, Sam turned to look at Dea again. She offered him a smile, and he tried to smile back, but as he looked to the road, he could only hope to himself that he imagined the lifelessness that he had seen in Dea's jade eyes.

She turned her body so she was leaning onto the side of the back seat, looking towards the driver's seat of the Camaro. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the tires on the pavement they were speeding down, the sound of Mikaela biting down on her thumbnail as she watched her friend from the passenger seat. Mikaela's clicking stopped, and Dea opened her eyes to see concerned baby blues staring back at her, "Dea, what are you really going to do?"

"I'm going to stay in school… I'll just be living in the Autobot base probably from now on. No big, I'll just need to get up earlier." She shrugged her shoulders and grinned crookedly, "Everything'll work out."

_You say that and yet…_ Mikaela bit back her thought and opted for instead mimicking the smile, "Yeah you're right. Everything has worked out before. Why would this be any different?"

Dea giggled, "Exactly!"

But Dea, Mikaela, even the mostly oblivious Sam, knew that there was no easy solution for this. There was no story book fairy god mother to come and make everything peachy keen. Moreover, even though Dea was no longer a prisoner of her cage, there was no knight in shining armor to whisk her away to happily ever after. That thought, that hope that there was someone out there willing to risk their life for her sake, that was crushed the day that silver Solstice was torn asunder.

There was going to be no happy ending, but Dea would continue to read until the end.

* * *

Light Note: Oh…My…GOD! This chapter has seriously taken me so much longer than it should have it's insane. UGH! Next chapter is planned out pretty much, just not written down anywhere, so expect another long wait for an update. Jeebus I'm so bad… LAWL Forgive me? I has cookies? –hopeful smile-

Light of Heaven


	5. Unimaginable Possibilities

Song of the Fallen  
Chapter 5: Unimaginable Possibilities

"_Blah blah"_ –Transformer talking in car mode  
_Blah blah_ –thinking  
'Blah blah' –Cybertronian and private links.

Transformers ain't mine  
Dea Barr is.

Light Note: So more depressing Dea action, but it'll liven up eventually. The phone messages will clear up, Dea will smile, and confusion and randomness will ensue. It's just a fact of this story. Don't expect her to make a lot of sense.

* * *

Dea blinked, looking from under her lashes at the staring face that was currently blocking her light. Or at least, the optic of the face that was blocking her light. Sunny's florescent yellow paint shined under the overhead lights of the med bay, what Dea had made into her living room. She stared at the slightly older twin with evident confusion on her face, "Can I help you?"

"Well yes and no. See, it's not me who needs help it's—"

She frowned, "I'm not giving Sideswipe another wash. He can go through a car wash and get clean that way." Sunstreaker's frame shook with laughter, and Dea's face blanked as she remembered the slightly sexual implications of her actions that time. Standing from her bean chair located on Ratchet's desk, she brushed off the yellow mech and started for the edge of the desk when he scooped her up into his hand.

"Dea, it'll just take a few seconds, we just need you to—"

Leaping from his hands, she fell the dangerous length to the floor with surprising grace – landing in a cat like pose with book still in hand. She looked up at him from over her shoulder, "No."

"Dea—"

"I refuse."

"But—"

"DENIED DAMMIT, SO DROP IT!" she yelled viciously at him, and he flinched back. He'd never seen the human girl with such an expression on her face. As she stalked out of the med bay, the male shook himself out of his daze. Giving a moments thought on whether he should pursue his inquiry, he let his shoulders droop when Dea reached the elevator that would take her to the floor where she was staying, one that was made much too small for any transformer access.

Sides slipped into the medical bay then, nudging his twin's moping form with an elbow, "I told you she wouldn't want anything to do with you. She's still a little shaken about the sudden move." Sunstreaker let out a noise similar to a whine, and his brother laughed, "Come on, let's go get some energon to cheer you up."

The yellow Corvette shook off his brother's hand, "I get that suddenly up and leaving her dad would be hard, but it's been two weeks now! Dea is stronger than this. She wouldn't let something like her father keep her from being happy." He vented his systems in a sigh, "At least I thought she wouldn't…"

"ARGH!" Sideswipe growled, "You're being too serious! Time to pick on Ratchet." Grabbing his hand, the red twin dragged Sunny off to what the yellow twin knew would be his doom, for Ratchet was in no better mood than his adopted human daughter.

Pursing her lips in a frown, Dea surveyed the room in which she currently lived. It was plain, with stark white walls and carpeted floor. A perfect, small but not severely so, square, there wasn't much room for sprucing up without completely renovating the space. Hence, Dea had been content to simply cover the walls with as many posters as she could, going out and buying more when demand was greater than supply.

She shook her head and rubbed her forehead with a sigh, "Damn senior classes are getting to me…"

The red head threw herself onto the bed, grabbing her English textbook from the night stand and opening it up to the reading they would be debating in class tomorrow. Her brow furrowed at her sudden lack of concentration, and with an angry growl, the girl dragged herself over to her desk. Intent on wasting a good few hours carousing myspace or something, Dea brought her laptop to life.

Fingers drummed on the desktop as she waited for it to load up. In that time, Dea's urge to surf the interweb dwindled, so she opted for blaring her music from the surprisingly sturdy speakers located in the device, "I have never been more bored in my life…" She heard and engine rev just outside her wall. Blinking, she realized that one of the Autobots must be in the hallway. She had chosen the first room on the right to sleep and do homework in, and dedicated the one directly across from it as a personal karaoke room, which the three teens used quite frequently.

Standing, she huffed and exited her room, muttering about how if it was Sunny she was not afraid to hotwire the other twin and make him drive off a cliff. Pushing open the double swinging doors that separated the human equipped rooms from the gigantic transformer sized hallway, she looked to her left, then to her right to see a yellow foot. Beginning to form a glare, she paused when she noticed that the shade of yellow was off.

Following the leg up to the torso, and from there the head, she found herself staring back at Bumblebee, "Oh! Bee, I thought you were Sunny."

He chuckled, "Good to know that death glare wasn't meant for me then." She forced a sheepish smile onto her face and prayed he wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but Buddha, God and everyone else on God duty was looking the other way, for a grumpy sounding rumble came from the vocal processor of the Camaro, "I want you to come with me."

"Look Bee, I would, but I've got thirty more pages of this book to struggle through, pull a summary of the Cold War out of my writer's hat, drag myself through Calculus, and all before the morning comes." She grumbled under her breath, "And as if that wasn't enough I have to prepare for a mock debate in Government. So I'm sorry but I really don't have the time." Dea ducked down back into the human quarters before the yellow mech could get a word in, skidding to a halt in the middle of her room.

Her expression dropped, and she could hear Bee's engine still, and then tapping on the wall. She sat herself on the floor, her back leaning against the bed frame. Pulling her knees close to her body, she let her bangs cover her view of the room. In all reality, she felt guilty. Everyone was being so gracious, letting her stay here, giving her rides to school, helping her cheat on her homework – even if most weren't aware that's what they were doing – all out of the kindness of their sparks.

And yet… She couldn't help but still feel like she was abandoning her dad. Even with knowledge that it wasn't the case, that he had another family that needed him apparently more than she did, Dea could help but herself. It was a natural instinct to stick with your family through whatever, and this was clearly going against that, "It's better here… It's better here…" Over the past two weeks, this had become her mantra. Repeated over and over, the petite girl hoped that she would convince herself that she was happier here, and that she made the right decision.

So far she hadn't been doing a good job.

There were still so many doubts in Dea's mind; ones she knew were irrational and pointless, but there. She'd abandoned a part of what made her, shaped her into the young woman she was. Her family would never see her again, all except for her cousin Veronica who visited often. How would they react when her father came with this new family to Christmas, and no Dea? Would they yell at him? Would they blame him? Would they miss her?

Dea frowned. There was always her mother's side. Maybe a visit to the reservation that her great uncle and great grand mother lived on now would do her some good. Or maybe even check up on her grandfather! It'd been a while since she'd seen the man. Not since her mother's funeral…

She shook her head; standing up and shaking her body out, like if she was doing the 'putting your whole self in' part of the hokey pokey. Rolling her neck, she grabbed her backpack from by the door and pulled out the necessary things for her homework. She'd feel less guilty about skipping out on Bee if she actually did what she said…

* * *

Optimus sighed, his frame drooping as he let the latest report drop onto his desk with a loud clunk. The report told of the latest Decepticon movements. Apparently, Blackout was still alive and kicking, as was Bonecrusher and Frenzy. Barricade was still alive, but mostly due to his cowardly actions during the battle in Mission City. So far, no new information was present on the whereabouts of Starscream.

"It seems that the four of them have made base somewhere, but our scout lost them somewhere in Mission City before he could figure out where they were headed," a bored voice droned, picking up the discarded report and placing it amongst a pile of other already looked at reports. The police cruiser known as Prowl stopped to listen to sounds from the hallway – Ratchet yelling about melting somebody down for scrap metal, which meant he was chasing the twins – and let his wings tense, then relax, "Optimus, perhaps we could sense the twins out—"

The commander interrupted him, "I'm not sending the twins out on a wild goose chase just because you're paranoid. So far, they're content with torturing Ratchet and Ironhide, so be happy with the peace you have."

Prowl grumbled a string of curses directed at the two corvettes, "Then what of the human girl? She could ask around, see if there's been news of—"

Yet again, the mech was interrupted, albeit this time with more hostility, "We are not sending Dea out to do our dirty work. She's not an operative, and she's not replaceable. Ratchet would have your hide if she was found by the Decepticons and captured because you thought she'd make for a good foot worker."

There was a pause, then Prowl said calmly, "I just meant it as this…Dea… would be able to talk to the other humans with much more ease than one of our own."

"We've managed thus far; we can do without putting her in danger."

The tone with which Optimus spoke was a conversation ender, and he made the point clear when he stood from his desk and motioned to the door, "If you would, I have to speak with Ironhide." The door opened to reveal the head of said black mech, who grinned awkwardly at the two.

"'Ey there Prowl! Still up in a tizzy about this that and the other?" he retorted with a playful punch on the shoulder as he passed by Prowl. The other just simply grumbled a remark, "That's his thing now is it?" Optimus shrugged with a slight smirk playing on his features, "So what's the news Prime?"

Optimus let out another sigh, "It's about Dea's new found disposition. Her smiles don't seem as, how to say it…"

Ironhide perked up with an idea of his own, "Not as genuine, right? I've noticed it too. When she thinks no one's lookin' the little one has this sad expression on her face. Has ever since we brought her here. I asked if she wanted to go back once, but she looked… appalled at the idea and said that she loved it here."

The blue and red flamed mech nodded his agreement, "We need to think of something to perk her attitude back to it's normal chirpiness," Ironhide gave a look that said 'well not _as_ chipper…' and Optimus let out a loud laugh, "You know you like hearing the sounds of squealing children. We all miss the sounds of children. And these humans are the closest thing we have to that."

Bobbing his head, Ironhide smiled, "Don't I know it. You should have seen the look on Chromia's face when she found the base and heard those three laughing like a buncha younglings while playing some game about a natural disaster." His smile softened and he shuffled his feet, "Almost brings a tear to your optic seeing how those femmes fawn over those three…"

He smiled in response to Ironhide's story, then wiped the expression from his face as he proposed his idea to his friend, "I think we should tell Dea about Jazz." Ironhide froze, working the sentence over in his head before nodding slowly, "It's the only thing I can think of that'll get this girl out of her… whatever it is she's in." The tone with which the two were speaking was relaxed, not as strict as if they were speaking as Autobot commander and weapons' specialist. They were conversing as two friends, worried deeply about one of their own – as Dea could be considered such what with the amount of time she spent with them.

Ironhide let a concerned rumble run through his engine, "How do you think she'll react."

"I think this might be the first time we'll get a reaction out of her instead of the relaxed ones she's been giving us thus far," Optimus jested, complete with a snort and a sad shake of the head.

The statement was true; the girl hadn't given them anymore reactions other than her usual stoic silence followed by an exclamation of 'cool' or some random observation that sometimes had nothing to do with the situation at hand. Like when Ratchet had explain in summary how spark bonding worked. Most humans would have been utterly lost and confused, maybe even frightened by the strangeness, but Dea had simply nodded and replied, "Well that's going to take a few days to set in, nice talk," and left.

"When do you plan to do it?" Ironhide questioned, his main purpose was so that he would know when to shut his audio sensors off, and his sub-purpose being pure curiosity on her reaction. No surprise that his own personal survival – of his hearing anyway (she was like a bionic harpie woman or something!) – came first, but he really did want to know what she was going to do.

The commander hefted his chest plates in another sigh, "Soon… With in the week. Other than that, I have no idea…" He rolled his optics in frustration, "What am I going to say to her? Oh yeah, here's the guy that saved your life, he's in pieces, but you can look at his coffin if you want!" He started to pace about his office and groaned, "That's way too insensitive… Like something Prowl would say…" He respected the officer, but his tact was just as bad as Ratchet's sometimes.

"Maybe something like, Dea; Jazz was an important member of this team, so we decided against throwing his remains away to the elements and had him preserved…?" Optimus leveled him with a look that said 'oh please tell me you didn't just say that' to which Ironhide shrugged, "You're idea wasn't any better!"

"I'll… talk to Elita about it. She's much better at this than me." The weapons' specialist mumbled something under his breath along the lines of 'that's not the only thing she's better than you at…' which Prime rebutted with a smack to the other mech's head.

Rubbing the back of his cranium, Ironhide whined, "What was that for?" Optimus ignored the question and stalked out of his office, slightly grumpy that Ironhide had so little faith in his abilities – even as a joke. Could Elita seduce other femmes the way he could? He thought not. Be really weird if she could.

* * *

As Dea walked through the maze of hallways to the mess hall, she shoved her nose further into her book so as to have an excuse for not seeing the goldenrod Camaro that was sitting cross legged by the door to the med bay, "Dea I really do need you to come with me." She made a show of turning up her music to ignore him, but he did her one better and upped the volume of his own voice, "Dea Barr, if you don't turn around right now you're going to miss out on the single most embarrassing story about Jazz ever told."

That sentence caused the rosette to pull herself to a stop, pausing her mp3 player as she turned around with a suspicious glare, "Alright, fine. You have my attention, use it wisely." She placed her bookmark in her book and snapped it shut, placing it over her chest as she crossed her arms. Her glare grew more intense as she added, "And if you don't really have a story about Jazz for me, so help me God, you're going to regret the day you were born."

The mech laughed nervously, then scooped her into his hand and bolted down the corridor for the stairs that would take them outside, "We're going to go for a little joy ride, but you'll get your story I promise." Once they were met with the evening air, Bee set her down on the ground long enough for him to transform into his car self before prompting Dea to get into the passenger seat with a burst of honks.

She buckled her seat belt with an impatient huff, and crossed her arms yet again to make it even more clear to the young scout; she wasn't all too happy with him right now, "You're not going to regret this Dea, it's the twin's best prank ever." This perked her interest even more, and didn't serve to calm her down, only to make her more impatient.

"Can we skip the joy ride and just get to the story?" Dea whined, not caring how she sounded to the Camaro. He replied with skidding to a halt and starting off in a different direction from before, one she knew would take them to the lookout. Sure that she was going to get her story, Dea let herself settle into the leather seats and relax. The car slowed to a stop before she knew it, and she looked out the window to see the same scenery she had the day Bee first transformed in front of her, "How time flies…" she mumbled to herself, Bee courteous enough to ignore the remark.

The engine cut, and Bee started with, "_Okay. So let me see if I can remember this right._"He took a moment to gather his thoughts before starting out, "_So you know the twins, and you know how… ah what's the word…_"

Dea jumped in with her vocabulary input, "Eclectic?"

The cab shaking with Bee's laughter, he agreed with her statement, "_Yes. You know how eclectic their pranks can be sometimes. Well this one time…_" The human listened intently to the story of the twin's pranking Jazz, complimenting their ingenuity, laughing at the way Jazz reacting, flinching when she heard what their punishment from Prowl was, along with the beating they got from Jazz, and all the while, smiling. Not the forced smile she'd adopted over the weeks, but a real, genuine Dea smile.

After the tale was told, they opted for a combination of silence and small talk, shying away from anything that weighed to heavy on either of their minds – Dea's father, and the recent Decepticon movement – not that Dea was aware of the Autobot's newfound trouble. Dea snuggled herself into the leather seat, pulling her knees up and resting them on the door.

Sighing, the teen let her eyelids sink, the weariness she'd been fighting catching up to her in her moment of reverie. Right before she fell into the slumber that had been evading her, Dea managed to murmur, "Thank you Bee. I needed this," before her breathing evened out and she was asleep.

Bee turned the heater on so she wouldn't be cold and decided to sleep there at the lookout tonight. He didn't want to disturb the peace that had found its way into Dea's heart, nor did he want to disturb the slumbering girl herself. He prepared for sleep, and vented his systems in a sigh, "Your welcome Dea. Always a pleasure." She made a noise in the back of her throat, as if even asleep she understood him and he laughed quietly to himself.

What a strange and unique human Dea Barr was, and what an experience it was to be involved with her. Even if it was just for the short amount of time which her lifespan allowed, the young mech really would cherish every moment. That's why he strived to make her smile return, his spark couldn't bear to see her saddened like she was. What a strange and unique human indeed…

* * *

The sun crept slowly over the horizon, and over Bumblebee dashboard onto Dea's closed eyelids. She groaned, and blinked the bleariness out of her vision before sitting herself upright and stretching her back. Yawning, the young human snuggled back into the warmth of Bee's passenger seat and let the rising sun heat her face that was slightly chilled from the night. Dea ran a hand through her hair and yawned again, her nose scrunching up in a scowl.

Prodding the dashboard, she addressed Bee with a scratchy, groggy voice, "Bee? We need to get back… I still have school and I need to change." Without a word, the mech started his systems, taking a few tries to get his engine going which showed that her Cybertronian companion was still as bushed as she was. The radio flickered to life, playing the local rock station, albeit with a little static from how far out they were. Dea hummed along lowly, using the activity to warm up her voice and get the crackly sound from it.

As they came up on the base, Dea had finally woken up and was entertaining Bee via head banging rather ridiculously to a song that she wasn't familiar with. She shook her head side to side, causing her short hair to fly out as she went through the motion, her lips pursed in the 'fish lips' look. Bee's engine rumbled with his laughter and finally the song was over and Dea went about fixing the nats her head banging had caused, "And they do that the WHOLE time the band is playing. Sometimes they do mosh pits, but there isn't enough room here for me to make fun of that one."

They exchanged a round of laughter and descended into the base, Bee stopping when they reached the double doors that lead to the human-sized quarters where Dea had made her home. Popping open the passenger door, Bee and Dea said their goodbyes - as Sideswipe called dibs on driving her to school today - and the human quickly bolted to her room.

Luck was with her, as they'd managed to get back a little more than five minutes before her alarm was going to go off, and she slammed the snooze button when it did, while in the midst of tugging on a fresh pair of pants. She pulled off her slept in shirt and grabbed a random one from a drawer and pulled it on, then slipped her arms through the sleeves of her favorite zip up - which happened to be one of Sam's. She laughed as she remembered getting Sunny to sneak her and Mikaela into Sam's room, where the two of them promptly stole a good chuck of his clothes, and Dea a pair of boxers because she's weird like that.

Glancing around the room for her shoes, she panicked when her Vans were no where in sight, but then proceeded to smack her head when she remembered that she'd ditched them outside her room. Dea snatched up her backpack, did a quick check to see that she had what she would need for that day, then bolted from the room, grabbing her shoes as she ran, and screamed at the top of her lungs for Sides.

The red Corvette was waiting in the Transformer sized lunch room for her - which gave Dea the random question of 'what the heck do they eat?' She flagged him over with the hand that was holding her shoes, squeaking when one went flying at hitting a brooding Ironhide on the aft. Dea flashed him an apologetic smile as she crept forward to retrieve the item, then ran for Sideswipe, who was leaning on one of the tables with his other hand trying to smother his laughter.

"Oh shut up!" Dea whined, throwing her shoe at his shin. Her reaction only increased his glee and Dea huffed, "Fine, I'll go get Sunny to give me a ride."

"Ah! No no no, that's okay! I'm done, I swear." She glared at him, and he held up the sign for the boy scouts, "On my honor."

Rolling her eyes, Dea dropped her backpack and her shoes, then jammed her feet into their prospective shoe, tapping the tip of each before she put her backpack back on, "I doubt you were in the boy scouts, but okay. Now I don't want to be late, so let's get this show on the road." He nodded and lifted her up, her small arms wrapped tightly around his thumb so she wouldn't fall when he ran. They reached the sunlight of the surface, and he set her on the ground so he could transform.

She hopped in the passenger seat, and soon they were speeding through the desert landscape, leaving a trail of flying sand behind them. Not being able to help herself, what with the speed they were going, Dea whooped and screamed, rolling down the window so that the wind blew wildly at her hair. Sides answered by going even faster - hell, he's a Corvette, it's not like he COULDN'T go any faster than he was - and Dea squealed and thrust one of her hand through the open window, feeling the wind rush through her fingers and push it back.

Pulling her hand back in and rolling the window up when they saw the more populated streets, Dea huffed happily, her cheeks a bright pink giving her a lively look, "_You look a lot happier today,_" said Sides before pulling up his hologram which looked at her with a lopsided grin. She returned it in turn, "I'm glad."

"Yeah, well Bumblebee and me went out to the lookout and talked. He reminded me that I'm not alone anymore, and when I'm not happy, they're not happy. So I want to be smiling, so you guys won't worry about me..." Dea rubbed at her neck as she talked, looking out the window at the passing scenery, "I love all you guys, and Sam and Mikaela too, so I've got to move on already I guess."

They went the rest of the way to the school without speaking, and Dea got out, waved him goodbye and disappeared into the school. He stalled for a moment, then finally got himself out of the high school parking lot and onto the freeway. He was glad that Dea was feeling okay now, even if only to keep everyone else happy, but he was slightly miffed that Bee had been the one to do it. Despite how their first meeting had ensued, Sideswipe was particularly fond of the human girl. He'd been hoping to be the one to make her smile first.

Of course little did the red mech know that it was his antics that had caused the smile, but it was still inadvertently, and not directly his doing, so it's doubtful that knowledge would do anything to cease his pouting behavior.

He found an empty stretch of road on the outskirts of Mission City, and proceeded to raise his speed, letting himself go and fly down the road at unimaginable speeds. He reached the end and slammed on his brakes, spinning himself so he could turn around and do it again. Repeating this process, he let the sudden flare of anger he felt leave his system before he started back towards the base.

Still, whatever Bee had done, it had worked. Dea was back to her old self, and really that's all he could have asked for. Sure, he wanted to be the one to do it, but there were moments when you just had to take what life gave you and deal with it. Sideswipe wasn't so air headed that he didn't realize that this was one of those times.

Sides pulled back into the base and transformed, stretching his arms high above his head. He made his way back into the lunch room and saw Bee hovering over a cube of energon. The red Corvette sat himself next to the Camaro and nudged the younger mech's shoulder with his, "Thanks."

Confusion blinked through Bee's optics, but he didn't voice it, "Your welcome."

They sat in silence after that, Bee taking small sips from his energon and Sides leaning his upper half onto the table in a relaxed state.

What can I say? It's a mech thing.

* * *

Snuggled deep into the couch, a large bowl of popcorn placed in the middle of their laps, the two female humans sat engrossed in the television show they had playing on the TV screen in the lounge above the base.

It had become habit to come to the base for a few hours after school, but recently they'd adopted just hanging out in the lounge watching television shows that made no sense since they'd come in half way through.

Mikaela spoke up, not taking her eyes off the screen, "So wait, did Marcus have sex with Maria or was it Maria's sister?"

The red head she spoke to shook her head, "Neither, I think he'd gone bi curious and it was Jorge."

"Hmmm, yeah that'd make sense as to why they're so awkward now, " Mikaela agreed, munching on some popcorn.

Sam, seated in the lazy boy chair to the side of the couch looked at the two girls with a slack jawed expression, "Seriously? THIS is what we're going to do all day today?" He sighed and stood, "Forget this, I'm going home."

Dea gave a small shrug, "I'm already home, so there's no point really."

The female couple laughed at the comment, for no real reason except to frustrate Sam, "Oh whatever." The male groaned and exited the room, calling Bee with his cell phone so the Camaro and he could go home.

Mikaela frowned, "He lasted longer than I thought he would." She finally broke her gaze from the screen, "Okay, show me this text of yours!"

Digging a hand into her pocket, Dea brought out her little black cell phone, opening it up and bringing up the message from her mystery texter, "So far it's cleared up enough to read 'I am here.' then something, something and my name."

They stared intently at the device, letting silence cover them as they thought about what the rest of the message could mean. The brunette opened her mouth to speak when the phone vibrated in Dea's hands, causing the two to squeak in surprise and the phone to go flying onto the floor, surprisingly staying intact.

Dea scurried off the couch to grab the object, looking at the number as she picked it up. Her head came up to stare at her friend, the expression on her face telling Mikaela exactly who it was.

"Oh my god! Bring it here!" Mikaela said, waving Dea back to the couch.

Opening the text, they read the message - which was finally cleared up.

"I am here. I need you… Dea."

Both girls had the expression of confusion on their face, their mouths open and brows drawn down. Dea piped up, voicing their thoughts, "Who the hell is this?"

"Who knows, but apparently he needs you," Mikaela replied blankly, taking the phone from Dea's hand, "I am here… Here where?"

Dea shrugged, "Closer than I think?"

The brunette frowned, "Well who do you think is far away?"

"I don't know…" Dea said on a sigh, glancing at the phone, "It's cleared up, but it still doesn't make any sense…"

Mikaela stood, "Well I have to get home too. Sleep on it, maybe something will come to you once you aren't thinking about it anymore…?"

"Maybe." Dea said, as she stood as well, giving her friend a small hug, "Later."

"Later," Mikaela threw a wave over her shoulder and headed out to where her motorcycle waited. Dea watched from the doorway as her friend put on her helmet and hoisted herself onto the bike, revving the engine, and finally driving off through the dusty scenery towards the main road, leaving Dea alone with her thoughts.

…Never a good thing…

* * *

The week had crept silently by, everyone too engrossed in their own thoughts to voice their opinion on someone else's. Optimus paced back and forth in front of his desk, and Ironhide sat in the Transformer sized office chair. Ratchet stood off to the side leaning against the door and Dea sat on the desk, her legs crossed Indian style, looking from one mech to the others, "Um, guys? Is there a reason I'm here, because the weekend sunshine is calling my name..." She placed her hands on either side of her mouth and made a high pitched yet breathy voice, "Deeeaaa... Come and plaaay..." She looked up at their faces, but none of them moved from their spots - except for Optimus who was still pacing.

"Sorry Dea," Ratchet finally said after he realized neither of the other two were going to answer her, "We're just not sure how exactly to bring this up, it's a sensitive subject."

Her face went blank, "Is this about my dad?"

The medic shook his head quickly, "No! No, it's not about your father. It's about..."

Ironhide jumped into the conversation with the blunt answer he'd been planning to say all along if no one else had hurried up and told her, "We've got Jazz's remains in the lowest floor of the base, and we're going to let you go see him." There was absolute silence after he spoke, Optimus even pausing in his pacing to look over at the human girl. Ratchet studied her face to gauge her reaction, doing a body scan as well, but both came up blank - her face was calm and so was her body.

She blinked a couple of times and leaned onto her right hand so she could crane her body around to look at Ironhide. Her mouth opened, then closed, and Ironhide saw a flicker of realization in her eyes, and she opened her mouth again to whisper, "No way..."

He didn't understand the full extent of her now stunned face - her mouth hanging open slightly as what he figured was a million thoughts going through her mind all at once kept her from talking - and cleared his vocal processor, "Ya, see that elevator over there? We built it so the drones could come in and do cleaning every now and then so it don't get dusty down there and what not."

Dea shook her head, "This whole time..."

The three mechs exchanged glances, and Optimus took a step towards her as he spoke, "If you want to, you're free to go down and visit him whenever from now on." The human just nodded her head with a far away look on her face, "Right. We'll leave you alone to your thoughts." He jerked his head towards the door, and the three of them filed out and closed the door behind them, pausing for an instant when they heard Dea belt out a string of expletives and a scream.

Ironhide crossed his arms and nodded, "I think that went well!" The yellow medic gave him a look that said _are you an idiot_? "What? She didn't completely freak out, and she waited until we were gone to scream..."

"Oh dear Primus, you _are_ an idiot."

* * *

On the other side of the door, Dea had lowered herself from Optimus's desk and onto the floor, staring at the elevator she'd snuck into not but a few weeks prior. That tall, dark grey steel contraption had been a coffin. A coffin for the one person she'd been so looking forward to finally getting to meet - dead or alive. And yet, knowing that she was just a few minutes away from finally completing that goal had Dea frozen to her spot.

What would she say? Not that it really mattered as he was dead, but she still was one to think about that kind of thing. It's like telling a dead relative's tomb stone about your life since they died; it was silly, and you probably looked like an idiot, but it made you feel like they weren't so far away after all. Which lead back to Dea wondering what exactly she would say to the man, er mech, that had inadvertently saved her life.

What should she say? Hey, thanks for saving my life, even if you didn't really mean to do it. Sorry that you lost your life... That sucks. Not that I would know because you saved mine, hence I'm not dead, but you are, so I'm back to saying sorry about that. Though it's not really my fault I still feel bad that you had to go and die...

She shook her head and ruffled her hair with her hands, "ARGH! What the hell was that?" Sighing, Dea moved forward so that she was directly in front of the elevator. She stared at the button for a few minutes before ruffling her hair again and screaming, "Why is this so difficult?" The red head groaned, and glared at the button, then down at her finger, "This is all your fault." Then she took that back because she realized it was her brain's fault for not moving the finger, "Damn you brain, this is all your fault!"

_What do you want from me? Jeez..._

Dea sighed, "Deeja wouldn't have this problem. She'd probably just run up and press the button like the oblivious idiot she is." Another sigh. A ding brought Dea out of her grumbling, and she blinked as the elevator doors opened. Glancing down, she saw that her finger had finally made it's way to the button, "Oh... Handy!" Dea made her feet work and stepped into the elevator, hitting the down button. She gripped the hand rail tightly as she descended, still wondering what she was going to say when she saw the coffin and came face to... er, sorta face, with the man, eh, mech... That had saved her life.

"Man, speaking robot is hard..." Dea said absently as the elevator came to a stop. The doors opened and she found herself once again in that large gray room, the only light being the florescent lights hung high in the ceiling so that it looked like hundreds of mini suns when she looked up at them. The light faded as it reached the floor, giving the room a weird feeling, but Dea brought herself forward anyway, stopping when she was in front of the coffin.

There was a momentary pause while Dea collected her thoughts, "Hi. I'm Dea."

She shook her head, "No, no...That's too casual. How about," Another pause so that she could collect herself, "Hello Jazz. I'm Dea Barr." There was another violent head shake, "GOD NO! I sound like I'm trying to sell him something..." She groaned and seated herself; her legs straight out and crossed at the ankle, and leaned herself back onto her forearms so she could see most of the casket. She let the silence clear the air of her previous answers, content to just stare and wonder what the silver Pontiac looked like behind the casket door.

Her forearms throbbed from the weight of her upper body, and Dea pushed with her left arm so that she was seated upright, and folded her legs underneath her, leaning her weight onto her right hand. Once she was comfortable again, she resumed her staring, thinking idle thoughts like "Oh, I have to work on that government assignment tonight." and "I should call Sam and bug him to do his Spanish homework." Things of little consequence.

So absorbed was she in her simplistic thoughts that it wasn't until the words had already left her mouth did she realize she'd said anything at all, "My name is Dea, and I guess I owe you my life."

The words from her mystery texter rang in her ears, and a small gasp left her throat as a possibility wiggled its way into her thoughts. There wasn't a way… That had to be impossible. And yet the thought wouldn't leave her alone. The double-edge sword of a 'what if…'

What if…

_I am here._

* * *

Light Note: … DEATH! Death to this chapter and the mental hell it put me through… Ugh. I don't know where this chapter went. It was all nice and pretty in my head and then it just went POOF! And I had to try and find my thoughts through a haze of summer fog. It was hard, but I finally did it after… How many months? Actually, no… I don't want to know…

Hope you liked it, and don't forget to review and tell me if something doesn't sit right with you. I live to please the readers after all.

Light of Heaven


	6. Caught Under the Wave

Song of the Fallen  
Chapter 6: Caught Under the Wave

"_Blah blah"_ -Transformer talking in car mode  
_Blah blah_ –thinking  
'Blah blah' Cybertronian and private links.

Transformers ain't mine  
Dea Barr is.

* * *

Brown eyes fluttered open from behind long dark lashes, blinking stupidly at the bright light filtering through the dark green mini blinds hanging from the windows. Sitting up, Mikaela yawned and glanced around her room. Dea was curled up next to her on Mikaela's bed, her red hair splayed out on her black pillow cases. She smiled and brushed a hair from the girl's forehead, the redhead murmuring something to herself and rolling over. Mikaela giggled, and pushed back her covers and pulled herself from her bed, slipping a pair of sweats on over her boxer shorts.

She trudged herself into the kitchen, pulling a pan out from the cupboard and opening the fridge to grab the carton of eggs and bacon. Turning on the burner, she placed a couple strips of bacon on the pan and waited as the sizzling got louder and the smell of the meat began to waft out into the rest of her house.

Her dad was up first, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and making his way groggily to the coffee maker. She suppressed a giggle, and he shot a playful glare at his daughter as she handed him a cup, "Morning old man."

"Morning," her dad said on a laugh, "How was your girl's night in?"

Mikaela turned over the bacon, "Oh you know… Same as ever. Chick flicks, talks of boys wearing nothing but-"

"Crossing a line there Mikaela."

The brunette threw her head back and laughed, and returning her attention to the bacon in front of her. Dea shuffled into the kitchen then, taking a look at the bacon and then moving to the cupboard to grab another pan. Dea grabbed the egg carton and turned to Mikaela's father, "Fried, scrambled or sunny side up?"

The man grunted and drank some coffee from his mug, "Fried, over easy if you could." Dea just nodded and moved over to the over head cabinets to grab the oil.

Silence settled over the kitchen as the smell of eggs and bacon permeated the house, Mikaela and Dea cooking, and Mikaela's father seated at the table with his coffee and the morning paper. Mikaela glanced over at Dea, and the redhead returned the look, "Hm?"

"Nothing. So what are our plans for the day?" the taller girl asked, adding some fresh bacon to the pan and leaning back as it hissed and popped, "Grab Sam and head to the mall?"

Dea shook her head, "No, I was thinking I was going back to the— to my house and doing some texting." The redhead moved across the kitchen to grab a plate, then piled it with bacon and then used a spatula to move the egg from the frying onto the plate. Mikaela passed her some toast she had buttered, and Dea moved the plate onto the table and handed the brunette's father a fork she'd snatched up from the dish rack.

He grunted his thanks, and Dea returned to the kitchen to start on Mikaela and her eggs. The other girl made a thoughtful noise in her throat, "Thinking of visiting him today?" The shorter girl nodded curtly, "Makes sense… Anymore texts?"

"No. All has been quiet since then…" Her voice was stoic, but the brunette could tell her friend's displeasure from the small turn of the corners of her lips. Mikaela opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Dea shoving a plate towards her, the scrambled eggs steaming and melting the cheese Dea had thrown on top, "Let's eat."

Taking the plate, Mikaela nodded in agreement, handing Dea a fork. The two girls joined Mikaela's father in the dining room, and the mood slipped easily into something of a more normal variety; Dea scolding Mikaela for making Sam miss another homework assignment in favor of a date, Mikaela teasing Dea with all the boys she heard through the grapevine that thought Dea was cute, Mikaela's father rolling his eyes and muttering "Girls…" under his breath before taking off for the shower. It was normal, and Dea couldn't help but think that it was nice… Being normal for a change.

But after all was said and done - they'd showered and changed, watched TV until Sam came to get Mikaela - Dea was still going "home" to a hidden military base full of alien robotic monstrosities that had enemies bent on the destruction of the Earth. Which was _so very normal._

Dea pulled herself into Sunstreaker with a slight groan, but a happy smile as she looked to Sunny's persona in the driver seat and giggled lightly, "Home, Jeeves."

"I should punch you for that," Sunny remarked.

"Oh, now that is just unacceptable! You know how Optimus and Ratchet feel about me being hurt… Not to mention _Ironhide._" Dea smirked when she saw Sunny shrink, "And that's just to name a few."

The engine of the Corvette revved, "You're an evil little thing."

Laughter bubbled from Dea's throat, and Sunstreaker smiled in response.

Yeah, her life was really anything but normal; chaotic, crazy, a sci-fi fanatic's dream come true. But when it came down to the wire, it was her life.

She was okay with that… All the bad shit that'd happened to her aside, she was happy. Truly and honestly happy…

So what was this foreboding feeling in the pit of her gut…?

* * *

Silence hung heavy in the air around the hanger bay, and Starscream felt ready to rip a new one - to use one of those disgusting humanoid phrases - in the first one who decided to explain to him - "Why the slag do those incompetent Autobots know that we're back on Earth?" Starscream's frame shook with anger as Blackout and Barricade glanced at each other, then back to the extremely angry F-16.

"Well…" Barricade started out, talking slowly as if testing the waters, "You could say that's it's because we're rather… Easy to spot out."

Blackout chipped in, "You and I are the human's military machines. It is rather difficult for us to just…blend in and move stealthily. Starscream, you must at least be aware of this. Only Barricade is really able to move somewhat freely."

The Saleen nodded, turning his head to the side, "Meeting together like this was an intricate maneuver that I'm surprised we managed to pull off. Blackout and yourself stick out far too much for daily movement."

Starscream scoffed and glanced around the flight hanger they were in with disdain. When Starscream had regained contact with Barricade and Blackout - how the latter survived a killing blow was beyond the fighter plane, but as the _annoying_ humans say, don't look a gift horse in the mouth - they'd been planning to find a base of operation for them to meet up at.

Barricade had found this abandoned airplane hanger while he'd been in hiding, and had told Starscream of it when he'd brought up the need for the three of them to regroup.

However, in the process of the three Decepticons arriving, the Autobots had managed to pick up on their movements and were now on alert for further disturbances. Making doing just about anything but sit around and "enjoy" each other's company near impossible.

"That changes nothing. I'm sick of being cooped up in this shit hole with the two of you. Without Megatron, I have no real reason to even be speaking to you besides my need of your power. If I could have it my way…" Starscream leveled the two with a glare that would have sent any underlings running the other way - but neither Blackout and Barricade were cowardly runts - and growled lowly in his throat, a spine tingling grinding noise, "…both of you would be scrap metal."

Barricade growled right back, always up for a challenge, "Careful what you say Starscream. There's two of us, and one of you. And given the current circumstances, I think Blackout and I would gladly work out a truce if it meant the end of your ridiculous badgering." Blackout accented the statement with a crack of his knuckles in a too-human fashion.

Starscream grunted, "Whatever, have your way." Stalking off, Starscream flipped them the human "bird" and made his way to the other side of the hanger. Left to their own devices, the two relaxed.

Barricade got along well enough with Blackout. They both equally hated Starscream, and both thought the Autobots were just a bunch of moral highroaders who tried to give their killings a pretty look by adding the word justice to them. It was despicable, like throwing a bow on a pile of shit. Killing was still killing, and the two mechs were on agreement that the Autobots where just as bad as them, and they'd make them see it if it was the last thing they did.

Despite this, they did not count themselves as friends. Merely comrades with a common goal. If you got too attached to somebody, it would only make their inevitable death worse. And what good is a blubbering, fear ridden solider on a battlefield? None.

Blackout heaved a sigh, "It's about time that moron left us be. It's not like we can help the fact." Barricade just nodded in agreement, but otherwise made no move, "If we could only get a hold of some of the others. Ravage, some of the retard's family… Hell, even Blackarachnia would do us some kind of good… Assuming she could stop backstabbing us long enough to do it."

That received a chortle from the police car, "All too true, sadly enough. I'm surprised Megatron didn't just scrap her when he had the chance after the last time she tried to take control."

The other mech shrugged, "Megatron was a surprisingly benevolent guy. He let a spineless power hungry piece of slag like Starscream live."

Barricade scoffed, "If only he hadn't been so benevolent."

"I can hear you, you piles of scrap!" Starscream shrieked from the other side of the hanger, and - as uncharacteristic as it seems - the two mechs bursts into a round of laughter, causing the F-16 to result to the use of primitive human slurs he'd downloaded from the internet, "You two are buckets of steaming shit…God dammit."

Ignoring him, Barricade turned to Blackout with a serious expression, "I do have to say that I can't wait for some of the others to start arriving." From the corner of their eyes they could see Starscream stiffen, and the mechs raised an eye ridge at the motion. Projecting his voice towards the F-16, Cade smirked as he realized - again - Starscream's incompetence, "You did inform the others of our survival…Right, Starscream?"

"Of course I did!" Starscream rebutted with an upturned nose, but contradicted himself when he quickly fled from the room, muttering something under his breath about having something important to do. There was a quick moment of silence before the Decepticon mechs went into another round of laughter.

* * *

Dea sighed, chewing on her bottom lip with a furrowed brow. Her foot tapped incessantly on the concrete floor, the sole of her high tops making a smacking sound that reverberated off the walls and came back to her, intensifying her slight headache. With another sigh, she quit the action, pacing in its place.

She bit her lip again and glanced down at her open phone, the final completed text from her mystery man/woman/thing flashing into place when she pressed a button, "What do you want from me?" the red head cried, shaking the phone like it was a person's shoulders.

This had become quite a bit of a routine for Dea. Get up, go to school, come back, go see Jazz. She'd tell him random things like how her day went, or stories from when her mom was still alive. Then she'd make dinner, do her homework and go to bed.

The only real deviation from her path was during the weekends when she hung out with Mikaela and Sam. They'd lurk around the mall, hit up the farmer's market, or as she'd done this weekend, stay the night over at Mikaela's and have a girl's night in.

Dea closed her phone, replacing it to her front pocket. She turned on her heel, pausing only to give Jazz's coffin a last look, "Sorry I'm not saying much today… I've got something on my mind that I need to take care of…" Dea headed for the elevator, her intent being to talk to Prowl about the text. Something that she'd promised Sam she'd do a couple weeks back but never got around to.

When the elevator doors binged open, Dea was greeted by the sight of a sea of metal legs; mostly mechs, but she did recognize the few femmes that were there. Chromia, being one of those said femmes, glanced down at her with her version of a smile, a tight lipped and stressed kind of smile, but said nothing to her. All eyes were on the Commander, sitting at his desk with his back straight.

Dea glanced around the room at the different faces, before clearing her voice and bringing everyone's attention suddenly to her, "I don't mean to interfere," she looked again to all the grave, stressed faces of the Autobots before settling on Optimus's profile - the mech still looking directly at Elita One -"But did I miss something?"

"Dea," Optimus started, "I apologize, but could you wait for a little while longer… I will explain everything to you, along with Sam and Mikaela, once all this has settled down more."

Her green eyes narrowed, and suddenly the atmosphere was made clear that for once… She wasn't welcome here. Nodding silently, Dea weaved her way through the maze of legs, her fingers twitching up to her arm with the need to scratch at the upper half.

As the door to Optimus' office shut behind her, Dea found Bumblebee, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker waiting on the other side, "What, no kids allowed?"

Bee shifted his weight to his other foot, "That's the general idea, yeah. Mostly it's just junior officers and the med techs… All the older veteran types have been silent about it since the distress call." Sunstreaker smacked the other yellow mech on the arm, "What?"

"We aren't supposed to inform the humans of anything!" Sunny hissed, shooting Dea an apologetic glance, "Optimus said he'd deal with it and that it wasn't our place."

The Camaro frowned, "They are my charges, I think they should be informed when I deem them ready to be informed."

Jumping in to the conversation, the red Corvette acted as the voice of reason, "Your charges or not, Optimus is our Commander. What he says goes."

However, Dea just shrugged her shoulders, "I don't care… Like Sunny said, Optimus will tell me." She shot the three mechs a disarming smile and made her way to the main elevator, intent on grabbing some food and making a run for her room. Not that it would be hard, what will all the junior officers trying to catch the latest gossip on what they weren't supposed to know.

It wasn't until a few hours later, when Dea was equipped with a pad of paper, a pencil, her American History book, and the comfiest sweats she had, that Optimus called her cell phone, asking her to come to the control room for a debriefing. Her spine shivered at the serious tone in his phone, and her hand twitched again to scratch idly at her arm as, barefoot, she padded through the base to the control room.

Dea waved to Sam and Mikaela, who returned the gesture but otherwise said nothing. The red head kept the silence, standing in a way that made it seem as if she were a solider at attention. Optimus cleared his vocal processor, an unneeded gesture, but one he'd picked up from all the human delegates he'd been in meetings with over the past year, "As you must all realize by now, I have grievous news to bestow upon you… As much as I wish this were just a rumor, it appears that Decepticons have not only lived through the battle of Mission City, but are now regrouping."

Prowl, who was standing to Optimus' right, stepped in to explain more, "A week ago we had a scout report possible Decepticon movement in the outlying areas surrounding the city of Reno, Nevada. I personally investigated the claim, and finding no further evidence, dismissed the claim." He shifted his weight slightly, silently conveying his embarrassment, "However, we recently received a distress signal from an Autobot ship that had been apparently attacked by a incoming Decepticon ship and marooned on one of Earth's outlying planets. This sadly confirms that the Deceptions are preparing for an attack, which means that we - and by we I mean the Autobots - need to prepare for battle."

Stepping forward, Optimus took control on the conversation, "We will be meeting with your human leaders later in the week, but I need you three to try and keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior. They know of Sam and Mikaela, and know of our pacifism towards harming humans and may try to use you to get to us."

"We'd like, however, to think that Dea would be safe, so long as she's not seen an overly large amount with Sam and Mikaela," Prowl added.

Dea shoved her hands in her pockets, "So you want me to lay low. Keep myself hidden so I don't become a burden or a tool for Decepticon use, right?" Prowl and Optimus nodded, "Okay, if that's all then we're done here, yes? I have an American History essay that needs to be written for next class."

The Autobot Commander nodded, "You're dismissed."

Sam and Mikaela took their leave, giving Dea a glance and a small wave goodbye, while the latter stayed behind, her hands still in her pocket and a curious expression on her face. Prowl, who had seated himself at his station, looked up from a data file he'd grabbed and gave Dea a quizzical gaze back, "Can I help you?"

She shook her head, but stayed where she was nonetheless. Dea bit her lip, and glanced at Optimus, who smiled at her, "Yes, Dea?"

"What do you plan on doing? Or is that out of my jurisdiction." Des asked, scuffing her heel to the concrete flooring with a small frown, "I mean, I know it looks like a lot of Autobots here already, but I'm sure there is significantly less than a favorable number."

Prowl nodded, "It would seem to be that way. We are uncertain of the number of Decepticons aboard the incoming vessel nor if they've already arrived." Prowl's way of speaking was solid, every syllable annunciated with precision. His form was a Tokyo police squad car, the foreign words lining his wig like projections like tattoos, and Dea thought the strict bold lines fit his personality to the letter. Prowl sighed, showing a small glance of his humility as he turned slightly away from her, a Transformer-style worry line creasing the intricate components that made up his face, "This would be easier if we had another saboteur…"

Dea's frame froze at the word, her mind flashing back to stories that the twins and Bee had told her, "You mean… Like Jazz?"

Prowl nodded unknowingly, "Jazz was our best saboteur. If he were still with us, we could easily have his slip in and bug the damn place without waking a spark." He huffed again, the wings giving slightly in a dip, showing his sadness that he hid from his voice, "It's all because of Megatron…" Optimus placed a hand on the officer's shoulder, giving the other mech a knowing look.

The human, however, was no longer paying attention. Her mind acted automatically, excusing herself from the room and ordering her feet to take her back to her room. Dea's bare feet made a distinct sound on the concrete as she walked, but the red head could neither hear the sound, nor feel the cool stone on her feet as she made her way through the base. Once she'd finally made it back to the safety of her room, Dea sat herself on the edge of her bed, staring blankly at the wall.

She knew that Prowl hadn't meant anything by the comment. It was natural to miss a certain skill during times of need. They needed someone to sabotage the Decepticon base, and Jazz had been their best saboteur. It was only natural to think "If only he were here…"

And yet her heart had still constricted in pain and guilt, as if Prowl's words had slapped her across the face and yelled, "This is YOUR fault!" Her breath caught in her throat, and she balled her fists into her bed sheets, shaking the thought from her mind.

"It's not my fault…Jazz was only trying to help distract Megatron from Sam. It's not like I did anything to cause it," Dea said to herself, picking at the edge of her sweats with her fingernails. She nodded to convince herself, and reached for her American History book that had been abandoned on her night stand next to her lamp. When her fingers touched the spine, she recoiled, her eyes clouded with tears, "It's not my fault…"

But it might as well have been.

Her homework forgotten, Dea shot from the bed, rubbing the tears from her face as she rushed through the base. When she neared the Command Center, she could hear Optimus talking in low hushed voices with Elita One, who spoke in an equally low voice, but tinged with the slightest sense of worry. The human narrowed her eyes, hoping the action would discourage further tears.

She knew that she was over reacting. That her frantic fear and overwhelming sense of guilt was just an irrational thought that would be best ignored, but she was human. And humans were known to give in to irrational thoughts and desires, as she was to the pressure she felt on her chest as she burst into Optimus's office, making her way silently across the floor to the service elevator that would take her to the only place she ever felt calm anymore.

The elevator lowered itself in a familiar sensation, her stomach no longer flip flopping, her head no longer pounding madly in her skull the lower she descended. She took a few breaths, breathing through an open mouth, her hand holding tightly to the railing and her green eyes shut to the world, listening to the familiar sound of the mechanics of the machine working; each part working together in a symphonic harmony that calmed her soul.

With a ding, Dea stepped out into the cold underground holding cell, the only thing it ever held standing like a sentry in the dark steel room. The metal was cold under her feet, and this time she was fully aware of the sensation it sent up her soles, the shiver it unconsciously sent down her spine as she made her way to the center of the room. A sigh escaped her lips, her head falling with a small thud onto the chilled metal coffin, the edges and grooves digging into her skin, leaving indents and marks in the delicate flesh.

"Jazz… You should be here… We need you," the human said, noting begrudgingly that her tone held a slight whine, like a daughter begging her father to let her go hang out with the cute boy with a car, "How come you had to be such a specialist, huh? Couldn't you have taken someone under your wings and had an… I don't know… Mini-Jazz?"

She gave the coffin a light head butt to show her frustration, "This would have been so much better if you just hadn't died…" Cold as it sounded, she meant it. If Jazz had lived… The Autobots would have been in much better spirits, she was sure. They thought she couldn't see, but it was clear as day to the human that Jazz's loss had shook those present at Mission City to their core.

It was no wonder they put his remains so far beneath their feet. Any closer, and it would be a daily reminder that even for them, life was short. So they buried him as far as they could go, and with his remains went their feelings of regret and shame and sorrow. All hidden down here, trapped under the earth so that they may continue on as usual, so that their minds wouldn't be clouded with those emotions.

Dea shivered, bringing her arms to wrap themselves around her slight frame, "You think you're so different from us… That you're all so advance and mature because you're miles ahead of us in terms of evolution. You think we're so primitive and naive…" She gave a harsh laugh, a short and clipped sound that seemed strange to come from the small girl, "We think the same thing of primates. And yet the two of us are closer in mind than any of us would like to let on…"

Letting her knees bend, she slipped down to the ground, twisting her body so that her back rested against the casket. She pulled her knees up to her body, trying to conserve the heat that was quickly fleeting from her body and wrapped her arms around them, her eyes staring unfocusedly at the goose bumps that raised themselves on her forearms. As the cold settled around her, she could feel her eye lids start to grow heavy, making the room lose focus as she lost the ability to keep them open.

"I'll just rest here for a few minutes," the green eyed beauty murmured, settling her head onto her forearms with a small sigh escaping her, "Just a few minutes…"

And she was asleep…

* * *

There was a clang as the metal door was gently closed shut behind Barricade's back. The Saleen nodded to Starscream, who cleared his throat and stopped in his pacing in front of the small body of Decepticons. The group contacted Barricade the week before, and the scrap bag had withheld the information of their near arrival until just a few moments before they landed on one of the runways of their abandoned airport. Now - _of course_ - it was left up to the perturbed F-16 to explain the situation to the new arrivals - among them being his own brother Thundercracker.

'As you all may realize, Megatron was destroyed by Optimus Prime,' the name earned a couple growls of disapproval, but Starscream ignored them, continuing his explanation. He was disgusted to say his Cybertronian was a little rusty after speaking the human's barbaric language for so long as he cleared his throat again, 'As much as it saddens me to say, that leaves me, his second in command, in charge of the Decepticons now.'

He could see Blackout and Barricade, standing off to the side as he spoke, roll their optics and glance at each other, 'I certainly hope that all of you will be willing to cooperate fully with me in hopes that Megatron's grand plans come to be realized and these puny creature's lives are extinguished and the Earth becomes our new playground.'

The group of mechs whooped and cheered when he was finished, making the fighter jet smirk in satisfaction. That is until light footsteps and a femme's voice broke through the noise, 'You are not even going to attempt to resurrect Master Megatron at all, Starscream?' The mech glared through narrowed red optics at the lean figure of the femme, trying to place where he'd seen the Decepticon.

It was a rare occurrence in itself for a femme to be around, what with the genocide they'd committed under Megatron's orders, let alone having one of the surviving femmes work with the group that had killed many of her comrades in arms. However, here one stood, her frame a deep red that shone with an orange tint from the hanging overhead lights from the ceiling of her hanger. Her facial features were pleasing enough, though something in her optics set the fighter jet on edge.

'Who are you to question my integrity femme?' Starscream bit out, his unplaced worry morphing into anger and leaking through his voice as he spoke. The femme smiled at him, and started for him. Now that she was closer, he could make out more of her distinctive features, or mostly just the image of a blooming flower that was etched into the metal at the point below where her collar bone would be on a human woman, sitting enticingly between her bosom.

Her lips curved into a devilish smirk, 'I am Megatron's loyal succubus and keeper of his secrets.' The burgundy femme pushed herself against him, her lean arms wrapping themselves around Starscream's neck and her fingers barely skimming the back of his head, 'So I ask you, oh second-in-command. Who are you to speak to me in such an unsightly manner.'

'Deathflower. I hadn't realized you were among the living,' Starscream fumbled for his words, suddenly fearing for the safety of his life the same way he did when Megatron looked upon him with displeasure.

She released him then, and loped over to Barricade's side, glancing at him from over her shoulder, 'You'd do well not to make that mistake twice, Starscream. I am not as generous as my beloved Master. I will not hesitate to kill you should you anger me again.'

'I wouldn't dream of it.'

Deathflower smiled again, a fake sweetness that spoke quiet tales of malice, 'Good. I'm glad we're in understanding.' Taking one of Barricade's arms in hers, she turned to the group who she'd arrived with, 'Remember what we discussed. If the Autobots have anything left of the Allspark, I want it brought to me immediately. It's your jobs to be tapped in to this planet's higher ups to make sure that you're getting all the information you have.'

Barricade nodded, 'The sooner we know if anything remains of the Allspark, the sooner we can move on to creating another way to revive our Lord Megatron.'

The group of mechs gave Deathflower a salute before dispersing to investigate their surroundings. Through the moving mass of bodies, Deathflower could feel the scorn of Starscrem's gaze on her back, but she paid him no heed as she instructed Barricade to take her to see the rest of the base.

Starscream clenched his jaw, tightening his fist to try and keep the distain from leaking onto his face. If it was any other femme but her, his plans to become leader of the Decepticons would be nothing. But with _that_ femme around…, "Tch… Things never go as according to plan though, do they."

He would just have to work his plan around Deathflower's appearance. It wouldn't be too hard to get his brother on his side. The others might take a while, but he could manage. After all, she was just a femme. So what if she had been Megatron's most trusted follower. So what if she was the most feared Decepticon femme of all of Cybertronian. The rumors couldn't be all true.

Could they?

Starscream jumped as, from across the hanger, Deathflower cast him one last deceiving smile before Barricade and she left the hanger. Cursing himself for his cowardice reaction, Starscream swore to himself that he would give that femme a most painful death he could imagine. It seemed befitting for the cruelest femme to receive the cruelest death.

Oh, was he going to look forward to that…

* * *

Light Note: Wow, I think this is probably the quickest I've ever tossed out a chapter… :D Haha, not that quick is necessarily a good thing, but nonetheless. My quickest update yet. Despite the shortness (or at least what appears as short to me) I'm glad with how this chapter came out. I can't wait to tell you guys more about Deathflower. You'll be seeing a lot more of her (And Barricade) as the Decepticons start to make their move.

Hope you guys stay tuned for the next chapter~

Light of Heaven


	7. No Sacrificial Lamb

Song of the Fallen  
Chapter 7: No Sacrificial Lamb

"_Blah blah"_ -Transformer talking in car mode  
_Blah blah_ –thinking  
'Blah blah' Cybertronian and private links.

Transformers ain't mine  
Dea Barr is.

Light Note: So this chapter gets more into the plot. We're finally moving forward! This is a beast of a chapter, and a lot is going to happen, but I hope you guys like it as much as you have with the others and continue to support me.

* * *

"Sunny, duck!"

The yellow corvette did as his twin said, ducking down just in time to miss a tree branch flying from above his head where his chest would have been. He glanced at his brother, giving a small nod of thanks before the two of them shot forward.

Their opponent, Thundercracker, transformed and shot into the air, leaving the wheel based Cybertronians without a way to reach him in the forested area. The twins scoffed in unison, glancing around the barely wooded land for something to give them an edge.

"Sides, give me a boost." Sunny said, looking from the F-16 in the air to his brother, "I'll try to grab him and drag him back down before he gets too high up." The red corvette nodded, cupping his fingers together for his brother to put his foot in.

"One…Two… THREE!" Sides grunted, pushing up with his full strength on three, Sunstreaker shooting up into the air. The corvette reached out his arms, his fingertips skimming the edges of Thundercracker's wing. He growled as he fell back down, landing on a bended knee, the ground giving a little.

Sideswipe came up to his side, and Sunny rose to his feet, "Should we try calling him names?" the red twin offered, glancing between his brother and the circling fighter jet. Shrugging, Sunny grinned at his brother, "You're right, it is always worth a try."

Amplifying their voices, the twins began to yell unsophisticated insults at Thundercracker in Cybertronian; such things that would make even Dea blush and that pertained to the integrity of Thundercracker's mother. Sure, they were drawing heavily on human insults, but whatever works, right?

Human based or not, the point of the comments was clear, and Thundercracker roared down towards them, transforming back into his bi-pedal form while he descended so that he crashed into Sideswipe, the two grappling for a hold on the other as they rolled across the field, their limbs knocking over trees as they went.

Freeing himself with a knee to the Decepticon's gut, Sideswipe came back swinging, landing a few solid blows to the F-16's upper torso. He responded by slamming his fist into Side's head, and knocking the red twin off him. Not out of the woods though, Thundercracker twisted his body out of the way just in time to miss Sunny's foot crashing down on where his chest plate had been.

Scrambling up, Thundercracker was forced to drop to the ground as sunny shifted his weight so that he could swing his other foot around. However, the Decepticon wasn't quick enough and the yellow corvette's kick sent him spiraling around the field.

Pulling himself into a sitting position, Thundercracker rubbed his chest as he watched the twin Autobots stalk towards him. He needed to get out… He was far too rusty to be dealing with the two. Even among the Decepticons it was known that the two were quite possibly the best hand to hand combatants the Autobots had.

As if to prove his point, Starscream's voice breached the uncomfortable silence in a private link, his tone none too happy, 'What are you doing? Get out of there you nimrod!'

'Brother please, now is not the time,' Thundercracker replied hastily, pushing to his feet and backing up a few paces, hoping to put enough distance between him and the corvettes to escape.

'I don't give a slag. Get back here _without_them following you!' Starscream's shrill voice replied, but before the other brother could make a remark back the line was severed and Thundercracker was left to his dilemma, "Good for nothing brother. He's only so uptight because Death is breathing down his back…Literally…"

The F-16 huffed, and backed up a few more paces, giving the twins the impression he was going to charge them again and escape to the west. When he had them running towards him, Thundercracker turned on his heel and bolted north, jumping up and transforming into his plane alter ego of sorts; the twins turning clumsily. It was a long shot, but the confusion of the turn was long enough for him to get high enough in the atmosphere that they couldn't reach him.

With a pleased sigh, Thundercracker headed north a good few leagues before doubling back and going west towards the base.

"_Stupid Autobots… Can't a mech put up some surveillance cameras without getting the slag beat out of him?_" the mech growled sarcastically, knowing he was in for a beating when the resident femme got wind of his failure.

* * *

Mikaela sighed at the sight before her. Dea was pacing back and forth in front of a tan skinned girl with short cropped black hair that had various pieces braided with bright yellow and equally dark eyes which were currently staring ahead blankly - the form being Dea's cousin Veronica. The slightly older girl - she was older than Dea and Mikaela by only two years - had learned about the Cybertronians the day Dea had left her father's house.

Needless to say, she'd responded in a more normal fashion filled with screams of "Oh my god I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming." and bouts of the comatose state she was currently in. Luckily those were dropping down considerably and only happened with the Latina was overloaded with Cybertronian lingo that Sam and Mikaela took with a nod and a smile and that Dea took with a shrug of a shoulder.

"So what you're saying is…" Veronica started, one hand twitching up to fiddle with a braid as her brain ran through the knowledge that had just been shoved down her throat, "That the evil dudes from last year are now like, collecting forces and what not… To kill us all off… basically?"

Dea froze in her pacing and turned to her cousin, "Yes."

"You know you really have to stop jumping this shit on me when I'm not ready…I need some time in advance to prepare for this!" Veronica whined angrily, but sighed and drooped her tensed shoulders, "What am I supposed to do to help though?"

Mikaela took that opportunity to jump into the conversation, "Since we're humans, we can move about more freely than even the Autobots in their bipedal forms. We can go into malls and talk to people. See if anything suspicious has been happening. The Autobots can only go on word of mouth."

Veronica nodded, "So we're doing recon?" The two other females nodded, "And Sam can't know why?"

"He'll tell Bee," they chorused, their faces showing displeasure.

Another nod, "Right."

As if on cue, Sam entered the cafeteria with a half eaten apple in his hands, his cheeks chubby from the fruit he was simply stuffing in his mouth like a chimpmunk, "Hey guys!" He smiled and the girls grimaced.

"God Sam! Chew the fruit first!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full!"

"Men are so disgusting, God!"

The girls looked at each other, all having insulted Sam at the same time, and burst into a round of giggles while Sam chewed his food slowly with a non-amused raised brow. Once his mouth was free and their attention was back on him, Sam jerked his head towards Dea, "Ratchet is looking for you. He looks a little tweaky, so it's probably something important."

"Better hurry then," Dea replied, giving a wave to her fellow girls, "Catch you guys at the mall later." The others nodded with a purposeful look in their eyes that poor Sam was oblivious to, already biting into the other half of his apple.

She started down the large corridor, taking a couple turns here and there until she found herself at the med bay. The door was open, so she knocked on the side of the door frame, well aware that Ratchet - who's back was turned - was already aware of her presence.

Proving her point, Ratchet spoke, still focused on something in his hands, "Dea, come in and shut the door would you? We don't need more people knowing about this than those who already do."

She complied with a lazy strut, hitting the button on the wall and her level that shut the door with a hiss and a click, "What's up Doc?"

Glancing at her over his shoulder to show his eye roll, he turned his attention back to something before turning around. One of his hands was closed around something, and she craned her neck up fruitlessly to see up into his hand as he bent down. He placed the closed hand on the floor and opened his digits, revealing his prize to be a small sliver of a dark brown rock like substance that was situated in the palm of his hand. He didn't speak, and just watched her as she pulled herself into his palm to get a better look at the small piece.

She observed without touching, Ratchet noted, a smart girl, "It's a piece of the Allspark. Sam touched it just fine during the battle of Mission City, so I'm certain it will be fine for you to touch a fragment." Her head didn't move, but he saw her jade eyes flick to his blue optics and back.

Reaching forward with tentative fingers, she curled her digits around the artifact and lifted it. What was a sliver to the Autobots was almost half a foot long to Dea. The surface was cool and smooth to the touch, and one side near the center still held remnants of the Cybertronian writing that had covered the original. It was about the size of a small branch from a pine tree, so she guessed it to be about an inch and a half thick.

Dea cocked her head, and in a blink her curiosity had shifted from the piece to Ratchet, "Why are you showing me this?"

The medic chuckled lowly, and Dea raised an eyebrow in response, "It's always questions with you."

"If you would stop giving me questions to ask, I wouldn't have this problem," retorted the redhead with one hand dropping to her hip.

Shrugging, Ratchet waited until Dea had hopped off his hand to go into explanation, "There was another piece similar to that one. The original piece of the Allspark that had remained was broken into two. I'm sure you can guess why."

"Happens all the times in adventure games. You break up the powerful weapon to dilute the power and make it more difficult to let the bad guy get a hold of the whole thing," Dea explained as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Correct. One piece is going with your human military…" he trailed off and this time both of Dea's eyebrows shot up.

Flabbergasted at what he was implying, color rose to Dea's face, "And you're leaving the other piece with ME?" Ratchet nodded warily, aware that her stress level was rising dangerously, "Do you know how much that's going to put me in DANGER? I might have to drop out of school and I'm so close to graduating! This is RIDICULOUS!"

"Dea, calm yourself…" Ratchet said and Dea glared at him, but did as he said and took a few calming breaths, "You don't have to keep it on your person, but I would like you to be the one to keep an eye on it."

Her grip tightened on the Allspark, "And Optimus?"

"Optimus agrees with my decision on this. Hide it where ever you wish, but make sure only you are aware of the location." He explained, and straightened himself up, "I have to get back to work, but we'll talk more later, shall we?"

Dea smiled up at him, "Of course." Turning on her heel, Dea slipped the piece into the pocket of her hoodie and opened the door, an eerie stillness following in her wake.

Ratchet sighed heavily, "Something tells me she's not pleased with this at all."

* * *

Deathflower released her breath slowly, pulling back her hand from Thundercracker's face, fingertips stained with the energon that was now leaking from the F-16's face, "Is it really too much to ask?" She stated in English, having been slowly integrating herself into the human culture, "Is it too much to ask of you to set up a few cameras along the borders of the Autobots terrain?"

Thundercracker held his tongue, and the femme took that as a sign of his despondence, "You were foolish, Thundercracker." Bending down to his face level, she used her soiled digits to caress his face with deceiving gentleness, "Don't make me regret letting you live."

"Yes," the mech replied, short and clipped. She graced him with a smile and pushed herself to her feet, addressing the Saleen that was standing close behind her, "Barricade, I was you to complete Thundercracker's task, as well as delving even further in."

Barricade nodded, and with an open arm, Deathflower walked into his embrace, "Shall we discuss specifics elsewhere?" The femme beamed at Barricade, who returned the gesture, albeit a bit tenser. He led her out of the hanger the mechs were gathered in and towards the bay that she'd taken as her own.

"Cade, do you think I was too hard on Thundercracker?" Deathflower asked conversationally, the sway of her hips causing the her side to touch his ever so gently as they walked, "I feel I was too hard on him…"

If there was one thing Barricade was sure of anymore, it was that he was glad to be in this femme's good graces. He didn't care that the other mechs gave him dirty looks for being her favorite. In terms of his survival, he would side himself with the deadly burgundy femme than the mechs here any day. Her reputation preceded her.

Deathflower was known among the lower ranked Decepticons as a sort of myth. A fate you didn't want to meet. For the few who were more in Megatron's favor, however, she was anything but a myth. She was more a tyrant than Megatron. If Starscream and others like him were Megatron's shield, than she surely was his sword. Ever ready and poised to stab one through the spark chamber with a look on her face as if she were delivering you unto Primus's doorstep with a pretty bow atop your decapitated head.

So Barricade counted this favoritism not as a curse, but as a blessing. As long as she cared enough to keep him around, he was guaranteed to live until the next day. And Barricade was all for living until tomorrow.

"I think you took the appropriate action. He failed his mission, and was spotted by the Autobots no less. Thundercracker deserved his punishment." As they entered her personal quarters, Deathflower pulled herself from Barricade's arm, "Now what is it that you wish me to do?"

"I need you to set up surveillance inside the Autobot base if you can. Listening devices that we can put above ground to hear what is being said below. As I'm assuming their base is more high tech than ours…" Deathflower snuffed her nose at the thought of Autobots having something superior to that of her own, "You are good with your hands, Barricade. I'm quite certain this task should be simple."

Barricade bowed low, "A piece of cake, as the humans are wont to say."

"Good. Off with you then. I feel heavy hearted after punishing Thundercracker so, I must rest…"

The Saleen let himself out and walked the short distance back to the mech's quarters, thinking none too fondly of Death's last words.

She felt…heavy hearted over something so small, and yet was not afraid to kill him were he to have talked back to her.

Yes… She did. Because that's the kind of femme she was. That's the kind of femme Megatron would take for himself and label her his. Only one such as Deathflower would have sufficed his Master's will. Their temperaments complimented each other well, no matter the pain it caused on Megatron's subordinates because of that.

Barricade entered the mech's designated barracks and gave a curt nod to Thundercracker, the other F-16 obviously in a foul mood since he was off by himself licking his wounds, so to speak. Stalking over to Blackout, the Saleen pulled his comrade aside, "While I'm gone, try to keep Deathflower complacent. It won't do us any good to have some of us die because one of the idiots piss her off."

Nodding, Blackout clapped the other on the shoulder, "Understood. Until Megatron's revival, we're the only hope for the Decepticon's future." They locked eyes, and then Barricade was gone, turning around and transforming into his car form. His tires squealed on the asphalt, and the mech peeled out of the hanger, missing the angry glare from Starscream as he went.

He made his way to the outskirts of the Autobots base quickly enough, going about his job with stealth that the larger F-16 didn't possess. Making sure to stay out of what he figured to be the area where Thundercracker had been spotted - easily seen due to the scuff marks that marred the barren earth - the mech hurried to implant the necessary devices and fled from the scene with such speed, it would have made the twins Autobots jealous.

Barricade was not made to fail. He was made to survive and continue on, and that is exactly what he was doing. He was doing his job that the devil herself asked of him, but in a way that would ensure his safety from the Autobots. He didn't intend to die over such a minimal task. That mind set may have made him out to be a coward to the others when he fled during the battle the previous year, but their words didn't matter.

He was alive. They were dead. At the end of the day that's really all that mattered.

When Barricade returned to the base, he was greeted with the sight of a smiling Deathflower, and he reminded himself not to flinch when she grabbed his large hands up in her small powerful ones, "Oh Barricade! I knew you wouldn't let me down."

"I assume they activated just fine then?" the mech asked as Starscream and Blackout flanked Deathflower on either side, arms crossed, but their blank faces showing traces of dangerous glee.

Death rolled her eyes, "Of course, of course. Your work is flawless as per usual. There is a reason I told Megatron to keep you around."

Barricade assumed this to be true, just not for the same reason Death gave.

"We already have the location of the Allspark piece. They've given it to the human military," she released his hands and waltzed away from him, "Now we just need to discover the location of the base they're keeping it at."

It took Barricade a few strides to catch up to her side, "That is easily found out. Humans have a horrible tendency to gossip. Someone will let it slip."

The femme gripped his upper arm, stopping their walk, "I want to be the first to know, Barricade." Her eyes showed an emotion he hadn't seen from her in years - apprehension.

"We'll revive Megatron, Deathflower," the Saleen assured, and her grip on his arm loosened just a fraction, and she smiled sadly at him. He opened his mouth to ask if she was alright, but she was already walking away from him, tossing a finger wave over her shoulder at him, her other hand resting on her hip, and for a second - for a very slight second - he saw the Deathflower she used to be.

Grimacing, he turned away to find Blackout giving him a curious look, "It's a long story. Don't want to bore you with the details."

Also known as stay out of my business.

Blackout shrugged and stalked away silently to the mech's barracks, while Starscream and Barricade made their way to the makeshift control center. They'd managed to modify some of the human's mechanics into an acceptable computer for them thanks to Barricade and a couple long nights.

Standing in front of the console, Barricade hung his head low. He could feel Starscream's sadistic smile on his back, and without turning around barked out, "What?"

"Oh nothing, I was just thinking it'd be wonderful for Lord Megatron to see how _well_ Deathflower and yourself work together," Starscream cackled, crossing his arms in a triumphant manner, "Oh, and the Devil Queen wants to weaken their forces. She says we attack at dawn." He turned himself from Barricade and prepared to exit the room but stopped at the door to deliver another blow to the depressed Barricade, "Don't lose too much sleep over your little secret now. It wouldn't do to have you dying on us tomorrow."

Barricade let the hefty silence that followed in the idiot's wake settle around him. The anger crackled within him, and he shouted in rage and punched at the wall in front of him, the sight of the huge dent doing nothing to calm him, "That moron just likes to make things worse, doesn't he…"

* * *

Dea woke with a fright, the sounds of war fare clanging loudly inside her skull. Gripping her forehead in an attempt to seize control of her body, Dea soon realized the noises weren't coming from within her. They were coming from above her.

The sound of a rocket being shot sent Dea flying from her bed. She grabbed the hooded sweatshirt she'd discarded early and stuffed herself into it as she raced from her room. She reached the elevator and contemplated its usefulness and speed before deciding she trusted her bare feet in times like these instead of the mechanical device before her.

Spinning on her heel, the red head dashed through the corridors until she reached the stair case used for ones closer to her size. The female scrambled up it with a fury, grabbing onto the railing whenever the stairs shook from some unknown force.

She reached the second floor landing and yanked open the door to reveal a horrid sight. Wounded Autobots were being dragged to safer places while others were rushing back to the surface entrance. Dea caught a glimpse of it from her vantage point in the door, and saw Ironhide grab the shoulder blades of who she assumed to be a Decepticon and flung him away from the opening.

Reacting on instinct, Dea weaved through the mass of bodies until she found the bright yellow form of Ratchet hunched down over a younger med tech who had a chunk of his leg missing.

"Ratchet, I'm fine! I can still fight," the evergreen tech was saying, his speech only slightly slurred.

The medic fixed him with a look, "You will fight if I can say you fight." Someone a few yards away called for a medic in a scared tone, and Ratchet glanced away with worry and fear written clearly on his metallic features.

"Ratchet…" Dea started. He glanced down at her, "What is going on?"

Huffing, Ratchet used his hand to gently push her out of the walkway they had delicately set up amidst the mass of injured Autobots, "We're under attack, Dea. I would assume that to be obvious." Her mouth opened, and guessing her next question, he raised an eye ridge at her. He was surprisingly calm as he answered her, "The Decepticons, who do you think would attack us?" Her mouth snapped closed, "Get out of here. You need to stay safe."

The human pursed her lips, but did as she was told, backtracking her way through the forest of limbs. She cast a backwards glance at the sight, anger causing her brows to furrow, before disappearing back down the stairs.

She walked with a purpose, using her lazy afternoons spent wandering the halls to her advantage. Winding through the third floor, she found herself at one of the other entrances the Autobots had to their underground base. She pulled herself up the Cybertronian sized stairs with a little bit of difficulty, but managed to reach the top with only a slight stitch in her side from the exertion.

Sweat was causing the tips of her hair in the back to stick uncomfortably to her neck, and she wiped at the spot with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Glancing at the motion sensor down at the bottom, Dea cursed under her breath and tore off the socks she'd been sleeping in. She bundled them up in a ball and chucked them at the sensor. The device happily turned green, and Dea was greeted with the sound of moving metal and far off battle noises from behind her.

She crawled out onto the grass, and straightened herself up. Her eyes widened at the sight Ratchet had been trying to keep from her.

A football field's length away, Ironhide and a couple other Autobots she wasn't too familiar with were trying desperately to hold off what seemed to be just a small handful of Decepticons. Her mind flashed to the large group of injured and Dea's anger spiked, "How the hell are they managing this?" Her voice trailed to a higher octave.

A burst of wind sent her hair flying into her field of vision, her shaggy red locks temporarily blocking her vision. Feeling a presence behind her, Dea craned her neck to the right and suddenly it was as if everything were moving in slow motion.

Crouched on the balls of her feet was a lithe burgundy colored femme with bright red optics. Their eyes connected, and Dea felt her own pale green ones widening in fear. The femme smirked, but otherwise ignored her, and with a push of strength, leapt towards the battle. Dea was left with a sense of confusion, but also an unsettling thread of thought that she'd just seen the devil and lived.

She heard Ironhide cry out in pain, and Dea whipped her head back to the scene before her. The mystery femme had grabbed Ironhide by the throat and had flipped him with such ease that Dea's jaw dropped a fraction of an inch. A black form moved up beside her, and a chill went down her spine when she started to recognize some of the Decepticons; Barricade, Starscream and Blackout.

Dea scanned the field with worry. With their heavy hitter down for the count, the younger and less experienced Autobots were losing their nerves. Watched as one by one, the others were easily taken out by either Barricade or Blackout. Suddenly a roar ripped through the night, and Dea's breath caught as she watched Optimus and Ratchet burst from the opening - the Autobot femmes not far behind them.

A small cheer went up from the Autobots, and Dea watched as Ratchet most likely instructed some of the fighting med techs to get back inside and help the others. Optimus however, had already lurched for Blackout, and the two large mechs were grappling on the ground.

Ratchet went after Starscream, and Prowl - who had been a few feet away - reached for Barricade. Barricade dodged with ease and used the back of his heel to kick Prowl in the stomach sending him flying. He glanced at the burgundy femme and they exchanged a few words. She flipped her hand towards where Prowl was beginning to stand up again and then Barricade was off running.

Dea crept closer, hoping to overhear some of the conversation. Dangerous or not, her curiosity was getting the better of her. She was ignoring every animalistic instinct in her being by not running, but there was something unsettling about the newcomer femme that Dea needed to know.

"Three against one?" The femme said. Her voice was like sugar coated poison. The silence followed in its wake causing an unintended shiver to go down Dea's spine, "I think I like these odds."

Chromia growled low in her throat, and Elita One put a hand to her comrade's shoulder, "You better hope Primus takes pity on your spark."

The other laughed, light and jovial as if the four of them were friends having a chat over tea, "Oh, that was cute." She pulled out an item from the small of her back; a Cybertronian style bull whip, "You really think you can kill me."

"We don't have to fight!" Firestar pleaded, hoping to bring this mystery femme to their side, "Megatron is gone, you don't have to fight for them anymore."

Smiling coyly at the trio, the burgundy femme cracked the whip with ease, causing it to pulse with a dull light, "Who said I wasn't doing this of my own will?"

Firestar gasped, but Chromia just glowered at the Decepticon, "You're doing this because you want to? What kind of nonsense is that?"

"Just as I said. My Lord chose me to be the Queen to his beautifully evil kingdom. Why on earth wouldn't I want to be the femme to the most powerful Cybertronian?" She glanced at Elita One, and with honest confusion that caused another shiver from Dea asked, "Isn't that why you're with Optimus Prime?"

With an angry cry, Elita rushed at the femme, "DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO YOU!" Her two companions flanked her sides in an instant, and the three erupted into a battle that would make the unconscious Ironhide proud.

Chromia ducked and dodged a swing of the glowing bullwhip. Using the heel of her fist, she punched the other femme in the stomach, causing her to stumble back a couple paces. Elita came at her from the right, her leg raised in mid swing but the burgundy femme was ready for it, and latched onto Elita's upper thigh, using the dusty pink femme's momentum against her and sending her flying into Firestar, who was getting ready to attack from the left.

She rushed at Chromia, stopping just short of colliding into her and sweeping Chromia's feet out from under her. Righting herself, she raised her leg up and crashed the back of her heel onto Chromia's stomach, the other gasping from the impact. She jumped a few paces away and watched as the trio regrouped themselves, "Told you it was cute."

"Bitch," Chromia spat, using the first word that came to her mind. The Decepticon scowled and was about to retort when Barricade ambled over, looking overly relaxed.

Dea's upper arm sparked up with an unsettling feeling, and she automatically began to scratch at the spot, "Death, we've gotten what we want. Let's go."

"Can't I stay and play a little longer?" "Death" asked and Dea shrunk back. Barricade fixed her with a look and glanced over at the trio of Autobot females who were preparing to attack.

"No," he directed towards the Decepticon femme, and said to Elita, while raised his gun and aiming it at the tree Dea was hiding behind, "Attack and I kill the skin bag." Elita's optics snapped to Dea's hiding place, and the human lurched back in surprise.

Elita lowered her gaze, her hands clenched into fists, "Fine, but might I ask what you were here for?"

Death bounced on the balls of her feet and clapped her hands together, "Oh! Well since you'll find out later anyway, I suppose I can tell you." Her smile took on an evil tone, and her eyes narrowed with glee, "We just wanted some playmates for later, so we'll be taking some of your comrades back with us!"

Chromia started to lurch forward, but was caught again by Elita, "What did you say?"

Death gave them a finger wave, "Bye bye!" And her and Barricade were gone.

Dea slipped to the cold ground, dried and dead grass poking at her exposed legs painfully but she found herself unable to move. Even when Elita came over to collect her, even when she was being berated by Optimus about disobeying Ratchet, even when she found out who exactly they'd taken…

_Ratchet…_

Her heart had clenched itself up into a tight ball, and found it growing colder by the minute as she walked on instinct to Optimus' office, took the elevator down and emerged into the cold concrete and metal room. She blinked a couple times as she took the needed steps to stand in front of Jazz's tomb, her hand poised to rest itself on the cool metal surface and trace the raised edges for the umpteenth time.

Her breath hitched in her throat, and a gurgled sob came in its place. Dea crouched into a ball in front of the tomb, her breathing ragged as she bawled, grateful for the empty space and the knowledge that no matter how many tears she shed - tears of fear, or of anger, or of sadness - no one would be any the wiser.

Dea let her cries overwhelm her, let herself drown out the thoughts that raged in her head like and storm dissipate from her mind. When the urge to cry left her, Dea raised her head to the ceiling, the stragglers of tears racing down her cheeks to mingle with their brethren that had collected in the fabric of her hoodie.

She wanted to do something, anything to help. But what are you supposed to do in a fight with Cybertronians when you're a mere human?

Slapping her face lightly with her palms, she cast that thought from her mind; Lennox would have her hide if she dared to think that again.

There had to be something she could do…

She just had to think of it first.

* * *

Light Note: Finally done! Geeze, this chapter gave me a bit of grief. I'm still unsure about how I should go about the fighting scenes, so at times I found myself trying to avoid writing them all together… Haha… oops?

Anyway, this chapter was actually supposed to have a couple more pieces to it, but I thought it was getting a little on the long side…

Hope you liked it!

Light of Heaven


	8. Off the Known Road

Song of the Fallen  
Chapter 8: Off the Known Road

"_Blah blah_" –Transformer talking in car mode  
_Blah blah_ –thinking  
'Blah blah' –Cybertronian and private links.

Transformers aren't mine.  
Dea Barr is.

Light Note: Let me just start off by apologizing profusely about the length of time it's taken me to update. Due to circumstances I'd rather not discuss, I lost all of the data on this chapter that I'd had written thus far, and so I have to start from scratch. And since it's been so long since I lost the data in the first place, I don't remember where I was going with it.

So we're going to have a nice break along the side of the proverbial road while I remember. I hope you all are still with me in this, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

There were a few things that Dea was certain of as she wiped the sweat from her brow, simultaneously sweeping her bangs out of her eyes so she could properly survey the beach.

One, Dea never had, currently didn't, and never would be a really big fan of the sun.

Quite the joke coming from a resident of Nevada, but as it stood, she didn't like that stepping outside for even small intervals made her skin torch a nice shade of strawberry red.

Two, the further north they went, the more Dea was beginning to not like her plan anymore.

Sure, heading up her own expedition to the rumored Oregon Decepticon base with Bee and Sides had seemed good after she'd had her little cry at Jazz's grave, but reality was starting to set it.

Finally, she was becoming more aware of a very simple fact that was threatening to push her over the edge and punch someone.

That fact being that her cousin was a very hard person to handle, and that someone would most likely be said cousin.

Currently they were somewhere south of San Jose. Bee and Sides had stayed higher up where the cliffs were keeping the breeze from blowing up. They weren't fans of salt. Dea, Veronica, Sam and Mikaela had all headed down to the beach to get some leg stretching in along with relieving them of their minor cabin fever.

They were about eight hours in; From Tranquility to San Jose, give or take a few minutes. They had about another ten or so to go. The intel was that there was a possible Decepticon base a good few clicks outside of a small town in Oregon.

Optimus had been planning to send Prowl along with a few of the newbies out, partly because they were good mechs, but also as a way to get the new guys used to doing things the Earth-bound way.

He hadn't been planning, however, for Dea to be listening to his conversation with Ironhide about the subject, or about the other rumor being that the base in Burns could be Ratchet's possible holding place.

If that hadn't gotten Dea's attention and her brain going, nothing would. She'd immediately booked it out of there and called Sam once she knew she was out of any Autobot's hearing range. As much as she loved them, they were sticklers for rules and Dea had a finesse at breaking them.

Thus, she'd managed to rope Sam, Mikaela, and Veronica into her plan. Which meant that Bumblebee would be coming along too, because Sam didn't have the ability to shut his mouth around his Cybertronian best friend. Sideswipe coming had been an accident, and Veronica's fault.

They had been all packed and ready to go when the petite Spaniard had suddenly remembered that she'd forgotten to pack something – in Dea's current state of rage she couldn't quite recall what her cousin had forgotten. She was making a big deal about it, which happened to draw the attention of the red mech.

It didn't take long before he put two and two together and was yammering into Dea's ear about how this was a bad idea and they were going to get hurt or worse, and Ratchet would have his aft if he let them go.

So Dea had Bee knock him out.

That didn't work very long, and Sides had caught up to them quickly, resorting in a race through the desert and highways until they were already to the Nevada border. After that point, Sideswipe had no other option except to go with them.

"If you're going into a gun fight, it's better to have two than one," he'd complained, while still managing to perfectly mock Ironhide at the same time. Dea had to admit, even in a crabby mood, the mech had a gift.

Thus, they spent the rest of the drive – Sam and Mikaela in Bee, and Dea and Roni in Sides – in almost, a little bit, maybe if you squinted companionable silence.

Of course, once Dea smelled the sea, she started screaming about cabin fever, bringing us nicely to the current situation of our fearless human heroes, the devilish sun, and Dea keeping herself from beating her cousin.

"Roni, seriously. I'm not going to say this again," Dea grounded out, her red hair pulled out of her face into two French braided pigtails, her bangs hanging free, "We are not going there to kick some ass and take some names. We are going there to sneaky sneak our way into finding something out about Ratchet, who this Deathflower femme is, and what they're all planning."

The dark haired beauty had the nerve to pout at the red head, who felt her anger level rise another notch, "Not even a little ass kicking? What are the robots here for then?"

"Autobots," Dea corrected sourly, "And they are here to keep us safe in case we get caught.

She thought a moment, then smiled, "So to kick ass?"

"_Veronica_!" Dea hissed, and her cousin finally clamped her mouth shut, "I will leave you here." Her cousin paused, looking aghast, "Don't tempt me." She then turned and stalked off to tell Sam and Mikaela that it was time to go.

As they four trudged their way up the path to where their rides waited, Sam decided to mention something that Dea had really been hoping to forget about, "You know, I was just thinking that Optimus is going to notice we're gone soon."

Dea's form hunched over, and she slinked up the stairs and into the back seat of Sideswipe without a look back. Meaning she missed the glare from the other two girls and the smack he received from his girlfriend.

The red head checked the time on her phone. They'd left around six, and it was a little after two now. Yes, there was no way that Optimus _hadn't_ noticed their absence. Especially since one of the members that was going on the original recon was _Sideswipe_; he just hadn't been informed of his involvement yet.

Which meant that any second the mech's communication link would bring to her the very angry voice of Optimus. However, while she wasn't looking forward to knowing she'd let him down, this was something she was going to do, Autobot help or not.

He could order Bee and Sides home, but he couldn't order her.

* * *

This little stunt was going to be the end of her.

That was the only thought as Optimus Prime, commander of the Autobot army, stormed through his base with a look that could have frozen Unicron in his tracks.

If that little human thought that she was going to get away with this, oh dear Primus she had another thing coming.

Behind him he could hear the reproachful voice of Elita behind him, telling the mech that Dea was emotional about Ratchet being taken, and it was in her character do to something brash like this. Oh, and she was telling him to not be angry.

Too late.

He was half angry at Dea for pulling this, and half angry at himself for not seeing this coming. He'd had the feeling when he was talking with Ironhide about the intel that someone was listening, but he brushed it off as idle, after attack paranoia and didn't think to include the over zealous Dea into the equation.

He sighed as the two of them entered his office, where he slumped into his chair with a groan, one hand rubbing absently at his temple. As the mech looked up, Elita was seating herself onto the top of his desk, staring down at him with a worried expression, "I'll be fine," he said, and she gave him a smile that lifted his spark.

"Think of it this way," Elita said, taking the positive side of the situation, "With Dea and company already halfway to the rendezvous point, it's a waste to have them turn back now."

Uh oh, Optimus didn't like where this was going.

Elita hopped off the desk and started pacing, "Why don't we just let them go all the way? Dea, Sam and Mikaela are capable humans, and they can go places that Bumblebee and Sideswipe cannot."

Optimus really didn't like where this was going. Elita , on the other hand, really liked where her thinking was going. The mech was already aware it was too late to stop her now.

"So in the end this could possibly benefit us greatly!" The femme finished with gusto, looking to Optimus with a apprehensive grin. She didn't like putting the humans in danger more than he did, but they both knew it was a smart plan.

Heaving a resigned sigh, he motioned to the door, "Go and inform Prowl to cancel the assembling of the recon party, if you would." Elita nodded and started for the door, "I have to inform our local trouble maker that she's once again off the hook."

Tittering, Elita closed the door to her partner's office behind her. As much as it would kill him to ever admit it, the young human's antics probably reminded the stoic commander of the days of his youth. Letting another small laugh escape her lips as she realized another point, Elita turned to glance behind her.

Optimus was secretly very proud of her, Elita was sure.

* * *

Dea froze at the sound of ringing. It hadn't been long since they'd left San Jose, and the red head knew that this call was coming, but the anxious feeling she got in her chest was normal when one knew what they were doing was wrong.

Still, she slid the phone out of her pocket and flipped it open without looking at the call back number, "Hello Optimus."

"Dea," the commander's voice on the other end greeted, just as tense as she, "I am very disappointed in you." She made a noise in the back of her throat instead of replying, "You will be in a lot of trouble when you return."

Preparing herself to go on the defensive about her actions, she was caught off guard by the mech's next response, "But I guess it can't be helped. Finish the mission safely and hurry back. Don't take any unnecessary action. Am I clear?"

Dea fumbled through her words until she managed to get out, "Yes sir!" She heard Optimus chuckle on the other end and grinned herself, "You won't regret this Optimus."

"I better not, Dea," his voice suddenly grave, "I'm counting on you."

"Yeah," she replied, just as serious. At the sound, Veronica turned around in her seat to give her cousin a tentative smile. As Dea hung up the phone, she returned the gesture, "Sides, tell Bee we're in the clear and to pick up the pace."

"_Roger that_," Sideswipe said, and opened a private link to the Camaro as Dea breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back into the seat. With the worry out of the way, she could focus on something more important.

Like what they were going to do to find the rumored base.

Dea could feel her fingers twitch towards her arm, but she suppressed the urge to scratch at the itch. It felt like forever since she'd first started living on base, and even longer since she first moved to Tranquility. In reality, it'd barely been six months since that first day she'd blurted out her tragic sob story to Mikaela.

Looking through the front window to the Camaro in front of them, Dea felt herself frown. It'd been such a short amount of time, and yet Dea felt that she was different than the girl she'd been in Mission City. She felt like she had a bigger purpose in life, and that was something her quiet old life could never have given her.

As Veronica turned up the radio, the music some indie punk band she'd stumbled upon while loafing around the CD store, Dea looked out the window, watching the scenery of the California landscapes fly by her.

Maybe this hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

Dea glanced once more at her phone, at the saved text message from her mystery texter. There would come a day when she would figure out what to do about that. Where she would deal with her Dad, and telling him how her mother really died. There would come a day when Dea would fix up all her loose ends and be truly content with her life.

The first would be to help the Autobots completely destroy the Decepticons, however she could.

If this was her way of helping, then she was all for it.

As the sound of the music blended with the sound of Sides' tires on the highway, Dea could feel her eyes starting to droop with fatigue. Letting herself curl up into the back of the Corvette, Dea could only think that there had to be some other way to help.

* * *

The sudden stop wasn't what woke Dea from her slumber.

As she flew up from her nestled into spot in the back of Sideswipe, she was momentarily blinded by spots. Shaking her head clear, she glanced around to no avail. The surrounding area was pitch black.

"Sideswipe, details. What's going on?" Dea asked, pushing back her hair and fixing her sweatshirt. Compared to spring in Nevada, it was definitely colder here – where ever here was – and Dea was glad she brought her hoodie.

"_A few human miles outside the city of Bend,_" the mech responded casually, "_Sam and Mikaela said it would be best to find logging here so we would be further away from where the intel said the base is, in case something should happen."_

Dea rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms out in front of her, "I guess that makes sense. So they're getting us a motel or something like that?" Sideswipe responded with an engine rev that Dea has translated into the Cybertronian version of a throat grunt, "Alright."

Pulling out her phone, she checked the time quickly before slipping the item into her hoodie pocket and crawling into the driver's seat to pop open the door and heaved herself out of the car.

Happily taking a few moments to stretch her legs, she took a quick lap around the area they were parked in. It was a small residential park, with not many lamp posts around, which attributed to the darkness Dea had seen from inside the car.

She jogged back to the parked Corvette just as Bee pulled into the parking space next to him. Dea was joined by Mikaela and Sam, and soon a still somewhat sleeping Veronica as they huddled around the hoods of the cars.

"What's the plan of action then?" inquired Sam with a yawn, which was outdone by the one out of his girlfriend's mouth.

Dea stifled her own yawn, "We rest for the night and wait until dusk before heading out. We'll reach there by night fall. We can bring low light flashlights and make our way through the brush."

Mikaela frowned and crossed her arms over herself to conserve heat. She, unlike Dea, had not brought a jacket. Sam threw an arm over her shoulders and brought the girl closer to him, "What about getting lost? We don't need someone getting out there and not being able to find their way back."

The red head nodded, "I thought of that as well. We'll do it how I did to find Jazz's grave." At the saboteur's name, both Autobots gave a quick start before being hushed by the petite girl, "Hansel and Gretel style. We'll each have colored rope from a Home Depot or something. Tie it to a car and string it with you as you go."

"Dibs on yellow," yawned Veronica, who was jabbed in the side by Dea.

Finally giving in to her urges and letting a yawn out, Dea rubbed her temple with the heel of her hand, green eyes closing with fatigue, "First off, let's just get to the motel and sleep. We can do the necessary footwork tomorrow once we're well rested."

The other three nodded their agreement, and the four teenagers piled themselves into their respective cars. The cars then started up and rolled out of the park. It wasn't long before Dea could hear the even breathing of her cousin again, and she was sure that Sam and Mikaela were already in a similar state.

Despite being tired, she couldn't help but stay awake. There were too many what if's running through her mind that she would need to get her iPod out to make sure she got sleep. There was no way anything other than drowning the thoughts out with music was going to help her. God bless the music business and making it so readily accessible.

Giving the time another glance, Dea retracted her last statement. At close to three in the morning, it was damn well possible for her to just hit the sheets and be asleep in an instant. She wasn't an insomniac, this wasn't her usual forte.

Rubbing her eyes, determined to at least stay awake until the hotel, the red head steeled her mind against the barrage of what if's and worries that were plaguing her. None of it mattered because there was something that wasn't going to change, no matter how much she stressed over it.

Once night fell, they'd strike.

* * *

Light Note: If anyone is still with me after the hiatus I've been on, then God bless you. Really. I have been such a horrible person on updating this that I feel I should be shot. You all are amazing if you've continued to read and look forward and wait for me to update.

So thank you so very very very _very_ much for sticking by me. You guys are absolutely amazing and give me reason every time I upload something to keep writing. I cannot say thank you enough.


	9. Sleeping Dogs

Song of the Fallen  
Chapter 9: Sleeping Dogs

"_Blah blah_" –Transformer talking in car mode  
_Blah blah_ –thinking  
'Blah blah' –Cybertronian and private links.

Transformers aren't mine.  
Dea Barr is.

Light Note: Chapter nine is here! I'm getting back into the habit of writing Dea, so hopefully things will be easier from here on out. Since it's been such a long time since I wrote Song of the Fallen, I noticed that in my opinion my style has changed. I like to think that means I've grown as a writer.

Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review and let me know if you like it!

* * *

Ratchet could feel the silence in the air, pressing around him as he stared blankly up at the small burgundy femme, who in turn stared blankly back at him.

'Well,' she said plainly, crossing her arms over her chassis, 'If you aren't going to tell me anything of interest, I guess playing with you is fine.'

The medic didn't say a word, but they both knew from just the subtle shift in the atmosphere that he didn't like that idea at all. Ratchet knew that playing was only code for torture.

Turning his head away and putting up a brave act, Ratchet just replied in a tired tone, 'Do what you want. Nothing will change.' That much was at least true. No matter what she did to him, he wouldn't give away anything. He was a battle harden medic, and not even the somewhat mythical mistress of Megatron was going to change that.

Said mistress pouted, and Ratchet had to note that under normal circumstances she would have been quite the specimen of femme beauty. However, seeing as the look in her optics suggested she was deciding on the most amusing way to disembowel him, he didn't currently want to think anything positive of the femme.

'No fun!' she whined to the form behind her, and Barricade appeared from the shadows of the hanger to appraise Ratchet's current position with a slight smirk.

Ratchet glared at Barricade with disdain, 'If it isn't the coward.'

The Saleen jerked back from the insult, and Ratchet was seconds away from giving the mech a smirk of his own when his head was sent rattling across the room. Or that's how it felt anyway.

Trying to regain his senses, the medic managed to realize that the femme was yelling Cybertronian obscenities at him that only a Decepticon would know. Which served to confirm the suspicions he would have rather left unconfirmed. 'So you do live Deathflower.'

Death paused in her yelling, yanking her arms free from Barricades grip at the mech tried to keep her from tearing Ratchet apart at the joints, 'I do, not that it's any concern of yours now. You won't live long enough to see my plans come to fruition.'

'Ah yes, your plan of reviving Megatron, am I right?' Ratchet asked with a sarcastic drawl. Of course her only plan would be to bring back the mech that gave her life purpose. Without Megatron to justify her actions, Deathflower was nothing more than a femme who was screwed up in the head into thinking that murder and torture were okay.

He apparently hit a nerve with his tone because his remark earned him another clap to the side of his head. He could now sympathize with Sam's desire to please his female companions to keep them from abusing him. It was not a very pleasant experience to be smacked around for ridiculous things.

'You know nothing of the great mech that Megatron was!' cried Deathflower, anger laced through every fiber of her being and leaking through into her voice. Her fists were balled at her sides, and Ratchet felt a small pang of sympathy for the femme.

Even if she was crazy, this was the only life she now knew. Without it, she had nothing.

Yes, there was no easy way for any of the Decepticons to return to the peaceful lives they had before the war. All of the Cybertronians involved in the war would never be the same again, and all the sparklings who grew up during the war as well would never know true peace.

Instead of challenging her, Ratchet sighed and turned his head away yet again. Deathflower wasn't one to take cues, but she seemed to understand that this would get neither of them anywhere and stormed off, Barricade following close on her heels.

Death glowered angrily at the ground as she walked out of the shed into the open forest, 'I hate him. I hate him, and everything he stands for. All of those Autobot scums.'

Heaving a sigh of his own, Barricade wrapped his fingers around Death's arm and pulled her towards the safety of the other shed that was a few yards away, 'I understand, but let's just leave it. He isn't going to tell us anything about the Allspark, assuming he knew anything in the first place.'

The femme nodded and allowed herself to be herded into the shed, where Starscream was leaning against the back wall looking as agitated as ever, 'Anything?'

'No,' Death replied curtly, and seated herself on some crates to her left, 'But that's no matter. Our real purpose for taking hostages wasn't for information, but for leverage. We want them to think we're unaware of their knowledge of the Northern base.'

Starscream grunted, 'And when they try to attack, we'll be waiting.'

As he leaned up against the only other free wall, Barricade shook his head, 'They won't attack. As much as I hate to admit it, Optimus isn't stupid. He'll send someone in to do some recon. We just have to wait for them to slip up.'

'And when they do,' Deathflower said with a grin that gave both mech's pause, 'I will make each and every one of them regret the day they scorned my master.'

* * *

Dea sat up and ran a hand through her hair, taking a moment to remember her surroundings and situation before snatching up her cell phone from the nightstand to her right and silencing the alarm she'd set. Glancing next to her, Veronica made no movement except to roll onto her other side. On the other bed, looking as awkward sleeping as they did when they were awake, Sam and Mikaela still sleeping as well.

She pushed back the covers from her legs and marched sleepily into the shower, where she made quick work of getting herself awake and clean at the same time. When she reemerged, drying off her hair with a towel, her companions were still sleeping, and so with a sigh and a head shake, Dea grabbed her cell phone and wallet, slipped on her shoes and left the motel room to be greeted by the morning sun.

They were on the second floor, and from the walkway she was on, she could see Bumblebee and Sideswipe parked off to the side, out of the general view. A smart choice, seeing as both car models were pretty high end and stuck out like a sore thumb next to the other dinky cars in the small lot.

Rushing down the stairs, she banged on Sides hood until she was sure the mech was awake, "Time to hit up Home Depot. Where's the nearest one?"

Sideswipe took a moment to calculate, and Dea was thinking of restating her question when the slightly mechanical voice of the mech replied, "_Eleven human miles southeast of here._"

"Perfect!" Dea said with a clap of her hands, and she popped open the passenger door to the Corvette, settling herself into the seat without a word. Of course, Sides was aware that this was Dea's style and general attitude, but it was still sometimes a bother.

"_Exactly what supplies are we procuring?_" Sides asked as they were pulling into the parking lot for the Home Depot.

Dea unbuckled her seat belt and pulled a list from her front pocket and unfolded it, "Let's see; four different colored rope – preferably nylon fibers – duct tape – for those just in case moments – and hand held radios for communication." The red head paused as she opened the door, before turning back to address the dashboard with her trademark grin, "And whatever else I seem to think would be important to have."

The red Corvette did the Cybertronian version of a sigh, "_I will be here a while then._"

It wasn't a question, but a statement. Dea, however, felt the need to answer anyway and laughed, "Probably!" Dea then left the mech to curse his luck as she entered the Home Depot, grabbing a cart as she passed one.

There wasn't much to get aside from what she'd told Sideswipe. They'd all already brought dark clothing to wear. Aside from the supplies on her list, she couldn't think of anything else she'd need. There wasn't anything sold on the market that could actually do any damage to the Decepticons if they were discovered, so her best bet was the make sure they weren't.

Dea grabbed her items, throwing in some snacks and sodas for the trio back at the hotel as an after thought, paid with her new debit card she'd gotten, and ran the distance back to Sides, "Alright, let's go!"

Revving up, the Corvette pulled out of the parking lot and started the distance between the store and their motel, "_Dea_," Sideswipe started when they were about halfway there, and the said girl froze in her head bobbing, "_Are you sure you want to do this? It could be dangerous, and you're gambling your life._"

There wasn't an answer, and the mech thought for sure she was just going to ignore him. He was proven wrong when she turned her head toward the window and muttered under her breath, "Of course I'm serious, you'd do the same for me."

Sideswipe couldn't help but chuckling, and Dea ended the conversation by turning up the radio to drown out further talking. He really shouldn't have asked, seeing as he got the exact answer he was expecting from the small human. Dea was well aware of the consequences in case she failed, but she was a glass half full kind of human. If she didn't plan on them doing well, she wouldn't manage to do anything at all.

* * *

It had felt like only moments had passed since Dea had returned to the motel and the flurry of activity to prepare had ensued. In reality it'd been nearly twelve hours. The darkness of the sky was proof of that.

"Does everyone remember the plan?" Dea whispered to the three other bodies around her. Behind them loomed the immense tree line of the forest they were about to breach, and standing with their backs to it, Dea was sure they didn't feel the same alarm race through their systems like hers.

Somewhere in that forest, the possibility of their deaths awaited, and they were willingly going into the lion's den.

Sam spoke up first, snapping Dea back to attention, "Loud and clear." Mikaela and Veronica just nodded.

"Alright," she started, and tied her rope to the under carriage of Sideswipe. Veronica did the same with her own rope, as did Sam and Mikaela to Bumblebee. Once that was complete, each individual picked up their rope and started into a different direction.

The basic idea was to split up and cover as much ground as possible. The rope was to keep from getting lost, and also in case of emergency. If the two Autobots saw multiple tugs on the rope or strange stress, that meant trouble and they were to go in for support.

With the area as dark as it was, and being inside a forest with lush trees blocking what moonlight there was, Dea wasn't surprised when she tripped on the first root to cross her path. Cursing under her breath, she stood and dusted off her pants and hoodie. She strained her eyes to see past her fingers, but the forest had nothing to offer but darkness.

"Oh peachy," muttered the red head before stumbling through the thicket some more. She used the tip of her toe to keep on the look out for more roots sticking out, one hand to steady herself on what she could, and the other to release the rope as she went.

Her plan of careful inch by inch maneuvers were going to take her longer than that of Sam of Veronica, who probably wouldn't care how many times they fell over, but it would work for her. Mikaela was sure to have some difficulties, but would probably manage the same as Dea.

Minutes ticked by in her head, and it wasn't long before a burning feeling rose in her chest. She leaned against a tree trunk to catch her breath. Now that her eyes were a little more accustomed to the dark, she was making better time. Unfortunately she was running out of rope and still had yet to find anything.

Dropping her gaze to the radio clipped to her waist, Dea blew out a sigh and grabbed the device, "Queen to rook, I repeat, queen to rook."

"Rook here," Mikaela's voice whispered back to her, "Any luck?"

Dea hit her head lightly on the trunk, "Not yet. How about you?"

A moment's pause, followed by a sigh, "Nothing."

"Alright. How about our knight?" Dea questioned, casting her gaze about the shadows for movement.

Sam's voice reached her a second later, "Nothing on my end either."

"Bishop?" followed Dea, waiting for the response of her cousin.

The was silence, then heavy breath and rustling sounds. Then Veronica cursing and, "Yeah, sorry. I had to get away."

Dea perked up from her spot, and she knew that Sam and Mikaela had as well, "What?"

She almost couldn't hear her cousin's whispering over the rustling of the branches as she walked past, but Veronica spoke clearly enough to understand, "I may have seen one walking past a minute or two ago. I wanted to say something earlier, but you said they had good hearing."

"Exceptional hearing," Dea corrected as she too followed her own rope back to their start, "What about the rope?"

"I left it there," replied Veronica. She cursed again, albeit in Spanish this time, and Dea could tell her cousin was having trouble getting back as quietly as she'd come. At least she was being serious, "I figured we could follow it back and then go the same way he did from there."

Dea nodded, but Sam was the one to give Veronica the praise, "Good thinking."

"And how," came Mikaela's reply and Dea laughed.

"Let's stop talking and hurry back before the trail goes cold," Dea stated, and reattached the radio to her belt. She couldn't stop herself from grinning, despite how strange it may have seemed to be doing so. There was an excitement in the air that she couldn't fight, adrenaline rushing through her as she followed her lifeline back to the opening of the forest.

Dea was the first to get back. Soon was Mikaela, then Sam and Veronica last, her face flushed and eyes wide. The red head gripped her cousin's shoulders with intensity, "What did it look like?"

The Spaniard thought hard, running through a list of adjectives as she tried to correctly pin the Decepticon, "Tall. Tan to black, it was hard to see in the dark. Bulky and not too graceful. He seemed to be confident he wouldn't be seen and was crashing through like he owned the place."

The others went through their own mental lists, "It's either Blackout, Bonecrusher or someone new. There are others making planet fall now, so there will be ones we don't know."

"_Public communication link opened with Commander Optimus Prime,_" Bumblebee stated, and Dea turned to address the commander's voice.

"_Dea?"_ Optimus asked, leaving the real question unsaid. What were they up against?

Dea straightened her back and started to pace while she spoke, "Decepticon sighted. Either Blackout, Bonecrusher, or an unknown mech. Tan to black, bulky and rude. Also, stupid."

"_Did you pursue?_" the mech asked next, and Dea shook her head. Then remembered that he wasn't actually in the room.

"Not yet. We were about to," Dea replied with finality. Using the tone of her voice and her words to give Optimus a challenge. His answer was a sigh, to which Dea knew she'd won, "We will avoid being seen and instigating an incident where Bee or Sides will have to step in. Don't worry."

Optimus chuckled over the communication link, "Even if you tell me not to worry."

"You'll do it anyway," she supplied, then giggled, "My mom used to tell me that all the time."

Sam grinned, "Oh, so you've always been a trouble maker?"

"Shut up Sam," rebutted Dea without turning around, "Optimus, I'll let you go. We need to hurry and follow the trail before we lose him and our cover of night."

Optimus made a noise of confirmation, "_Do your best and be safe._"

Once the conversation was over, Dea turned to survey the faces of her friends before grinning wickedly and pumping her fist into the air, "Alright guys. It's time for us to follow the yellow brick road."

* * *

Light Note: Hahaha! Yes, that's right. It is time for some more recon and boring stuff— I mean, yay progress.

I hope you guys liked this chapter as well. It came pretty easily to me, so I'm thinking I'm in luck and the idea of finishing this story can't be too far off now! That's the plan anyway.

Can't wait to hear what you guys have to think on the chapter!

(Also, I am very angry with because they keep taking away my section dividers. :I No. Bad . Bad.)


End file.
